The One that Got Away Trilogy : What Happens Now?
by theangeloffandoms
Summary: Sequel to Reunion : Now newly-turned demons, Ciel and Melody have a new adventure ahead of them. New Friends, New Enemies and a secret . . . . Sebastian is hiding something. . . . but just how long can the demon butler keep it a secret? Please Review!
1. Prolouge

Melody's POV

I am laying on my back, staring up at the white ceiling of my bedroom. Ciel and I are now immortal demons. What do we do now? We were only back at the manor because Sebastian gave us a few days to decide where to go from here. We had two options, but both have a similar ending. We could either continue our lives pretending to be perfectly normal humans, stage some tragic and sudden death, and then begin our lives as full-time demons. The second option was only different because we would be going straight into Hell. I groaned and covered my face with my hands.

I wonder what Ciel is thinking right now. . . . . .

Ciel's POV

I've never felt more alive! Nothing will stand in my way now. However, I still have my responsibilities as the Earl Phantomhive and the Queen's guard dog. At least now, I won't have to worry if Melody will be harmed because I now have the power to protect her from anything that would dare try to hurt her.

"Young Master, your afternoon tea." Sebastian said, muffled by the door. I let him in and he poured tea. Even though I am a demon now, I still hunger and thirst. Sebastian explained that the necessity will decline and eventually vanish after I eat my first soul. I would still be able to, but I would no longer have the need.

"Is everything alright?" Sebastian asked. I looked up at him, a semi-worried look was on his face. "Why wouldn't it be?" I replied. "You haven't made your decision yet," Sebastian replied. "You're usually not this indecisive." The truth is that I made my decision to leave this life behind. The problem was that I didn't know what Melody wanted to do. She hasn't really spoken much the past few days and has shut herself up in her room. Originally, I thought it was because she needed time to grieve her brother's death. But I don't think that is the case anymore. . . .

"Perhaps you should go talk to her." Sebastian said, as if he read my mind. I scowled at him, but he knew that he was right. This might be a lot for her to handle. I walked out of my study and made my way to her bedroom. I knocked on the door. "Melody, could we talk for a moment?" I asked. "Y-yes." I heard Melody say. I opened the door to see Melody sitting in the corner of her bedroom. I went to her and kneeled to look her in the eye. "You okay?" I asked. Melody looked up at me and slowly shook her head. "I'm scared." I barely heard her whisper. I reached for her hand and held it. "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure this whole demon situation together." Melody smiled at me, which made me smile back at her.

"Ciel?"

"Hm?"

"Would you mind staying on Earth for a little while." Melody asked innocently. "Just for a few months." I chuckled "Not at all." "I suppose that's good news for the Queen." Sebastian said, leaning against the doorway, holding a letter from the Queen in between his fingers. I ignored Sebastian's comment and read the letter, which also held three tickets for a to the Queen, a number of children had vanished in towns where this traveling circus has visited. All disappearing in the middle of the night, without a trace. "Looks like we are going to the circus."


	2. Introducing the Noah's Ark Circus

Ciel's POV

"It's very convenient that Sir Arthur is out." I commented as Sebastian went through the numerous files. "Please Stop!" Abberline said, "If the Commissioner finds out. . . " "Just make sure he doesn't" Melody replied. "Listen, this is the third floor. How did you get in here?!" Abberline asked. "Well, Sebastian?" I said, ignoring Abberline. Sebastian stood up and held a file in his hand. "No bodies have been found that match the missing persons reports." Sebastian replied. "We'll leave when you're finished copying. And we might as well borrow the photos." "You can't do that!" Abberline shouted. "If you're caught, just say I took them." I told Abberline. "That's get me into more trouble!" He exclaimed. "You've been a great help, Mr. Abberline." Melody told the officer, giving him a small smile. "We do appreciate your cooperation." This immediately shut him up as the three of us walked out of the room.

We walked in silence to the carriage that was waiting for us. "It seems like they are all still unaccounted for." Melody said as we got into the carriage. "That may be true on the world of the surface, but . . ." I replied, getting in the carriage after her. I tapped the handle of my walking stick on the roof of the carriage, signaling the driver to go. "In the Underworld, there's a possibility that they might already be . . ." "Will we be visiting his place once again?" Sebastian asked. I sighed "To be honest, I want to avoid it, but . . ." "It can't be helped." Melody continued.

When we arrived at the Undertaker's shop, it appeared to be empty. "Are you here, Undertaker?" I said. A raspy laugh echoed through the room "Welcome, My Lord." I heard something roll across the floor. Melody pulled me back, just in time to see a human skull roll where we were previously standing. "Did you finally want to get into one of my special coffins?" I turned to see the Undertaker standing a few feet away. "Listen, you-"I began. "Please, have a seat." The Undertaker interrupted.

Melody's POV

"Children's bodies, eh?" The Undertaker asked after we told him about the case. "The surface world has not yet found the missing corpses, it seems." Sebastian said. "Children's corpses are an everyday affair in the underworld." The Undertaker explained. "I'm sure you know that very well." "We've brought you the documents." I told the Undertaker as Sebastian handed him the files. "Are there any children you've 'tided up' amongst them?" Ciel asked. The Undertaker looked through the files. "I wonder . . Were they there?" The Undertaker asked, picking up one of the missing children's files. "If I saw something interesting, I think I'd remember . . ." He looked up at the three of us. "You know what I want. Give me prime laughter, and I'll tell you anything!" "Mel-" Ciel began to say. "Relying on your little friend again, my Lord?" The Undertaker interrupted "Aren't you able to do anything on your own?" The Undertaker smirked "Well, anyone entertaining enough will do, really." Ciel got rather annoyed at the Undertaker's comments "I'll do it" "You will?" Sebastian asked. "You get out." Ciel said, turning toward Sebastian. "And don't you dare look inside, that's an order!" Sebastian bowed, "Yes, My Lord." Sebastian went out the door, and then Ciel turned to me. I could tell by the look on his face that whatever he was going to do to make the Undertaker laugh, he didn't want me to see it. "I'll makes sure he doesn't look." I told him. As I left the shop, I turned to Ciel to see him mouth _Thank you. _I mouthed back _No problem_, and waited outside the door with Sebastian.

After a couple of hours, I heard a small burst of laughter. Sebastian and I looked at each other, and I opened the door. Ciel was trying to catch his breath as the Undertaker mused that he never thought the Earl Phantomhive would go _that _far. "What did you do?" I asked as Sebastian re-did Ciel's tie. "Don't ask," Ciel said, rolling down his sleeves. "But for the sake of the Queen, you'll perform and even do this kind of thing." Sebastian commented. "You really are a dog." "Shut the hell up." Ciel replied. He then looked at the Undertaker in annoyance. "There, I gave you your reward; now tell me about the children!"

"There aren't any."

"Huh?" Ciel, Sebastian, and I said at once. "None of these children were my clients." The Undertaker explained. "And I haven't heard any rumors from the Underworld companies." "In other words, you know nothing about this case." Ciel asked. "That's not it." The Undertaker replied. "I know that I _don't know _anything." "That would mean that no one in the underworld killed them." I thought aloud. "If they haven't been found in either circle, there's a good chance that they are still alive." "We have no choice but to investigate the circus firsthand." Ciel continued. "Let's go Sebastian. Undertaker, Contact me if any information surfaces." "Keep your soul safe, at least." The Undertaker said eerily. "I know that." Ciel said, as we walked out of the Undertaker's shop.

Ciel's POV

"By all appearances, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual." I told Sebastian and Melody as we took our seats. It was true; this circus appeared to be no different from ones that I have visited before. The lights began to dim, signaling that the show was about to begin. A man with spiky, orange hair appeared in the middle of the tent. "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages! Welcome to the Noah's Ark Circus!" he announced, beginning to juggle several brightly colored balls. "My name is Joker! If you'll look here-"The balls he was juggling came crashing down onto his head, causing the rest of the audience to laugh. That's when I noticed that one of his hands were fake, a prosthesis. "The whole circus is jostling for a chance to give you a fun show!" Joker said. "With one blow from the fire-breathing Jumbo, the show of the century begins!" A tall, muscular man appeared behind Joker, and spewed out a column of flame.

"First, our flying trapeze artists, perfectly in tune with each other!" Joker said, directing the audience's attention to the two children on the trapeze, a blond-haired boy and a brown-haired girl. "Peter and Wendy!" "Next, our knife thrower, the perfect shot who never misses his target." Joker said, directing the audience to a blond and black-haired man throwing knives at a woman on a spinning wheel. "Dagger!" "And next, look above you Ladies and Gentlemen!" Joker said. I looked up, seeing a woman dressed in white on the tightrope. "A death-defying tight-rope walk by the princess of our circus, Doll!" "Next is a rare snake/human half-breed." Joker said, directing the audience's attention to the man with white hair and patches of what appeared to be scales on his skin."Our serpent-man, Snake!" _If they don't intend to make a show of the children, perhaps the circus' movements and the children's disappearances are a coincidence? _"Last but not least, the star of our troupe!" Joker said, gesturing toward a woman with short black hair holding a whip. "Our wild cat tamer, Beast!".

"No children in the final act either." I said, "This was a waste of time." "For this Final Act, we would like a volunteer from the audience." Joker said. Melody stood up from her seat. Sebastian then stood up from his seat. "What is it? Did you find some-"I began. "That really distinguished-looking man in the tail coat!" Joker said, pointing to Sebastian. "Come on Down!" _So that's it! This is a chance to make contact! The Mystery case where children disappear one by one, the only clue to the truth of the situation is this circus. Making contact with them is a success, but how does he plan on investigating with this many people?_

"He doesn't plan on making contact." Melody said just above a whisper.

"Huh?"

"What's the one thing he can't resist?" Melody asked me. "Cats, why would" I began to say, before a scream from the audience cut me off. I looked down at the stage, to see Sebastian with a tiger biting his head. _Crap, Tigers are cats! _"Told you." Melody said.

Melody's POV

"Who said you could go _that _far?" Ciel asked Sebastian, annoyed as we walked out of the circus tent. "My apologies, my Lord" Sebastian said, who didn't really seem that sorry at all. "I've lived for such a long time, but it's only cat's fickle emotions I cannot read." "What were you thinking, being far more conspicuous than necessary?" Ciel demanded, and then sneezed. "You know I'm allergic to cats!" Ciel shouted. "Stay far back!" Sebastian obeyed as Ciel and I walked ahead of him. "There you are!" I heard Joker say. "You in the tail coat, hold on a sec!" We hid behind a booth as Ciel and I listened.

"I'm really sorry for earlier." Joker apologized. "No, please accept my apologies instead." Sebastian said. "I was surprised, 'cause you suddenly got so close to the tiger." Joker said. "You okay from the bite? We got a special doctor here, and I was thinkin' he should check you out. Please, come around back." _This is perfect! _Sebastian smiled. "In that case, I will."


	3. Taking the Stage

Melody's POV

Sebastian came back into the carriage about fifteen minutes later. Ciel signaled the carriage driver to go "Report." "I'm afraid I was interrupted before I'd made a full circuit of the camp." Sebastian reported. "I'd like to penetrate deeper into the organization, but I have a request for the two of you in that regard. . ." "What?" I asked. Sebastian smirked and explained his plan; the three of us would join the circus in order to investigate it.

"Does it inconvenience you, my Lord?" Sebastian asked when we arrived back at the townhouse. Ciel sighed "We can argue about this later. I'm exhausted." Before any of us could say another word, Prince Soma came bursting into the room. "Melody! Ciel! You're Late! Are your plans for the day over?!" he asked excitedly. "Welcome home." Agni said, greeting us. "Right, I forgot _you _were here." Ciel muttered. After the curry competition last winter, Prince Soma and Agni agreed looked after the townhouse since Prince Soma didn't want to leave and wanted to learn more about England.

I could see Ciel growing incredibly annoyed by Prince Soma's presence. "I'm not in the mood to deal with you two right now." Ciel told Prince Soma as we walked up the stairs to the second floor. "What?! But I've been so excited to challenge you to that 'chess' game of yours!" "I said No!" Ciel replied angrily. "What's wrong, Ciel? That's a really sour look! You could at least greet me with a smile!" Prince Soma said. "Shut it!" Ciel shouted. "I'm _Tired! _So keep quiet!" This immediately shut Prince Soma up. Sebastian followed Ciel upstairs, leaving me to deal with Prince Soma. He gave me a pleading look, so I figured that if I played chess with him for a little while, he would get off my nerves and Ciel's. "Fine, but only for a little while. I'm rather tired as well." I admitted. "Thank you!" Prince Soma said, excitedly. _This is going to be a long night._

Ciel's POV

The next morning, Melody and I were going to take the entrance test. We both looked like street urchins, to make sure no one figures out how we really are. "Whoa you brought two really cute kids," Joker told Sebastian, then looked at me and Melody. "My name is Finnian." I said. "My name is Isabella." Melody told Joker. "Those are imposing names," Joker said. "If you two join, I'll give you stage names." "Cuteness isn't enough to join the circus. You have to perform." Joker explained "Boy, what's your strong point?" " Um . . . darts, I suppose." I told him. "In that case, we'll do knife-throwing." Joker said. "Dagger, lend him a knife." Dagger put a handful of throwing knives into my open hands. Joker directed me toward a target, and told me to go for it. I took a deep breath, and threw a knife at the target. It spun and was about to hit the ground when its path was re-directed and it stuck into the target's head. I repeated this several more times until all the knives were gone. I looked back at the circus members, who were in awe. "Will that be all?" I asked. "Seems like you got control over it," Joker said, then turned to Melody. "Now what's your strong point?"

* * *

"Doll! Make sure that lifeline is tied tightly!" Joker shouted up to Doll, who was tying a rope around Melody's waist. Sebastian an I waited on the ground with Joker as Melody would tight-rope walk as part of her entrance test. _She had to make this her strong-point? What the hell was she thinking? _"I'm sure she'll be fine." Sebastian muttered into my ear, sensing my uneasiness. Melody spread her arms out and began to walk the tight-rope. She took a few slow steps, soon making it half-way across. I let out a breath, not realizing I was holding it. I looked back up to see that Melody had kicked her feet up into the air and was balancing on the tight-rope with her hands!

Joker whistled as Melody got back onto her feet and finished the tight-rope walk. "Amazing!" Joker said, when Melody when she got back down to the ground. "I didn't think you could do tricks, let alone do it at all!" Melody rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment "Thanks " Dagger then placed a hand on Melody's head and my head "These two cuties pass then, eh Joker?" "Not yet!" Joker said, pointing at me. "The boy hasn't done something really important." Joker smiled "A great big smile!" "Wha-" I began to say, before Joker cut me off. "C'mon smile!"

* * *

"Everyone, From today on, we have some new friends!" Joker told the rest of the circus performers. " Joker pointed to Sebastian "This is Black!" "It's a pleasure to meet you." Sebastian said, giving them a close-eyed smile. "The boy is Smile and the girl is Angel! Give them a warm welcome everyone!" I could hear Sebastian chuckling at my stage name. "Go on, Smile, greet your elders." Sebastian said, trying to hold back a laugh. "We're pleased to meet you all." I said. "C'mon Smile, smile!" Joker said.

Melody's POV

"Now, I'll take you on a quick backstage tour!" Joker said. "These'll be the tents you guys'll sleep in." Joker explained, pointing toward a row of yellow tents. "It's where the backstage workers an' newcomers - 'the second-tier members' – live." Joker pulled back the opening of one to show us inside one " 'bout two or three people share a room." He then proceeded to show us the mess hall and the store-room, before finally leading us to a fence that surrounded half a dozen, purple tents. "The main cast's private tents." Joker said. "Private tents?" Ciel asked. " S'a private room to get if you're real good." Joker explained, then pointed to a private tent at the end of the line. "That's Snake's tent, so stay away for your own good. There's a bunch of poisonous snakes roaming free, so if you get bit even once, you're off to the Underworld."

"Snake an' his friends're still shy, y'know? Careful of their poison, you three." Joker said, then gave Ciel an odd look. "By the way, what happened to your right eye, Smile?" Ciel touched the eye-patch that covered his contract-marked eye "This is . . . There was an accident." Joker gave Ciel a sad look "Is that so, so young but, you've been through a lot." Joker then smiled and put his arm around Ciel's shoulder "Everyone here's been through something, so you'll get along well with 'em." "Did everyone join during the tour like we did?" I asked Joker, trying to change the subject. Joker turned to look at me "S'true for most everyone, but we first-stringers 're all from the same hometown. We're childhood friends." Joker explained. "Childhood friends?" Sebastian asked. "Yeah, but Snake's still a new face." Joker told us. "His snake charming's none to shabby an' we didn't have a snake-handler, so he quickly became a member."

"The perks are much sweeter if you're a first string member, an' you don't gotta worry about survival of the fittest. You even get a private tent." Joker explained. "That's why everyone's working hard to compete to be a first-tier member." Joker then led us to the practice tent. "New people practice over an'over here." Joker explained "Aiming to make their debut in a real public performance." Joker then turned to look at us "Work on the basics first, Warm up carefully and . ." "Joker, It's almost your turn!" Someone called. I turned to see that it was the wild-cat trainer, Beast. She took one look at Sebastian and turned away in disgust. "Go ahead an' go all out you three!" Joker said, then followed Beast out of the practice tent.

Ciel's POV

"The poisonous snake tent is the entrance to the first tier members' tents, huh." I said in a quiet voice so the others didn't hear. "Instead of a guard dog, It's guard snakes, isn't it?" "To enter the private tents, we must become first-tier members."Melody said as she stretched. I turned to Sebastian, "If it's you, Poisonous snakes shouldn't be an issue, right? You can see if the children are here or not?" "They're not." Melody said.

"Huh?"

"I couldn't sense the children's souls during the tour or last night during the performance." Melody explained. "Even so, we have no evidence there's no relation to the children's disappearances." I told them as Sebastian helped me stretch. "We haven't searched through every nook and cranny."There is always the possibility their current condition is such that we can't sense their presence." Sebastian said. "Don't say that." I said. "She wishes for the children's safe return." "Understood." Sebastian said. "Hey! Don't stretch so sluggishly you three!" Dagger said, coming into the practice tent. "Mr. Dagger, what about your performance?" one of the newcomers asked. "Today I was the top batter!" Dagger told him. ""I'm already done and observing practice." Dagger then turned back toward me, Melody and Sebastian. "First, you gotta decide your program." Dagger explained. "What are you hoping for?" "A program that doesn't involve using my body for something like tight-rope walking would be good." I said. Dagger laughed. "You seem rather frail, so I'll be earnestly teaching Smile knife-throwing. What about you, Angel?" "I don't have any particular preference" Melody said. Dagger thought for a moment "You were pretty good at the tight-rope, why don't you stick with that?" Melody nodded. "Alrighty then, I'll go get Doll when her performance is done so she can help you," Dagger said, then turned to Sebastian. "What about you, Black?" "I don't have any particular preference either." Sebastian said. "If there is something you see and it looks like you can do it, give it a try!" Dagger said. With that, Sebastian was off doing numerous tricks with ease. First doing the trapeze, juggling, pole-climbing, rings of fire, high-wire, trampoline, and was about to swallow a sword when . . . ."Enough! Enough!" Dagger said.

As the other second-string members complemented Sebastian, I walked up to him "You're getting too carried away" I muttered. "Act more like a new -" "C'mon honestly! Another super newcomer's appeared? I won't lose y'know!" Dagger said. "Another?" Melody asked. Dagger nodded "There is an amazing guy who just joined." Dagger explained. "Look over there!" The three of us looked in the direction Dagger was pointing to and I saw who he was talking about. "He was some sorta government worker, and he's totally serious." Dagger explained, "Hey! Come down here for a sec, Suit!" The other 'super newcomer' came down from the tightrope. I recognized him almost immediately. It was that grim reaper, William T. Spears.

Melody's POV

"So it was you, wasn't it. I thought I sensed an unpleasant aura," Will said. "Honestly." Will pointed his long-range death scythe at Sebastian and nearly hit him. "I did not think we would meet again," Will said. "What did you come to fish for this time?" He pointed his death scythe at Sebastian's throat. "Demons." "Demon?" Dagger said, confused. "Even under the best of circumstances, in this time of grim reaper shortages . . . " Will said. "With demons appearing like this, I will be thrown off my schedule." "H-hey what the hell are you talking about?!" Ciel asked. Dagger went up and gave Will a light smack to the head. "Give it up, forehead! You said it with such a straight face, I couldn't tell you were joking!" "Since his first day he came here, this guy's been telling jokes" Dagger explained, trying not to laugh. "Stuff about 'souls' and such, He's a real hardcore occult fan!" William straightened his glasses. "Though there not actually jokes."

"I'll introduce you, the big one is Black." Dagger said,pointing to Sebastian. "That's Smile and that one is Angel." He said, pointing to Ciel then me. Dagger then patted Sebastian's and William's shoulders. "Well, bond over your hopes and get along well!" William turned and walked away "Sorry, but there's no way I'm getting along with savage beasts." "'No Way?"' Dagger said, calling after Will "The circus is about teamwork!" "Why would a grim reaper be in a place like this?" I asked. "A grim reaper personally infiltrating a place is rare," Sebastian explained. "Now we know one thing for sure," Ciel said. "There is something in this circus after all."


	4. The First Day

Sebastian's POV

"Sebastian, it seems like there could be some value in sounding him out." Ciel said, before Dagger came up from behind him. "Heey, what are you doing Smile?!" Dagger asked him "You gotta practice so you don't lose to Black! Practice!" "Y-yes." Ciel said, before Dagger looked at Melody. "Doll should be done by now. Angel, why don't you go look for her while I teach Smile 'bout knife-throwing?" Melody gave him a slient nod and left.

I walked toward the grim reaper. "Pardon me, but there's something I'd like for you to tell me, sir." The reaper pushed up his glasses. "I have nothing to say to you." I grabbed his wrist before he could walk away "Don't say that. Why don't we go outside?"

* * *

"What a disaster," the reaper said. "Honestly, even though the London division is understaffed due to a vacancy in the collections division, having to send me, from management, out is . . .""Then, why is someone as busy as you out in this place?" I asked. He pushed up his glasses again "I'm having to clean up after that trash officer who's still undergoing punishment." The reaper explained. "I didn't expect special treatment, but I didn't think I'd be forced out just because I was in the same class as that." I smirked "For a grim reaper to sneak in on investigation, is it some sort of special situation?" "There's no way I'd release information about souls to a demon." The reaper said, an almost disgusted look on his face when he said the last word. "It'd be like throwing a rabbit in front of a wolf." "I have no interest in poor-quality souls." I told him, smirking. "Well said for a starving demon" he spat. "You're almost half-mad with hunger." I smiled sadistically at the studious reaper. "I grew tired of the behavior of messily sampling every dish available a long time ago." I then revealed the contract mark on my hand. "Besides, I'm collared now. Please don't worry yourself." "What about that daughter of yours?" the reaper asked.

My scarlet eyes grew wide in surprise_. _"According to my sources, she now possesses the abilities of a full-demon. I believe you had something to do with that?" "No, but I assure you that she will not cause you any trouble." I told him. "She's quite tame. Far more than you would expect for a demon's child."The reaper's eyes narrowed, then sighed "All right. Since, the worst of the evil appeared 'before the job.' I'll get right to the point." "I'll say it clearly. In a few days, there will be an inspection of a large quantity of souls." The reaper explained. "This is a special case, so please refrain from getting in my way." "My, My, how difficult to handle alone." I said. "But this large quantity of souls . . . shall a demon like me offer you assistance with them?" The Reaper aimed his death scythe at me and extended it, only to get caught on my top hat, and bringing it a few feet into the air. "I won't forgive any overtime." The Reaper said, angrily. "If you interfere, I'll make sure your Master finds out about your _dirty little secret_."

_If Ciel found out, he would surely tell her, I can't let that happen, at least not until I find a way to tell her myself. _I calmly grabbed my top hat from the Reaper's scythe. "It's not as though I would want to be associated with a grim reaper by choice," I told him, putting the hat back on my head. "I have no interest in poor-quality souls.

"Hey!" Ciel called, grabbing our attention. "That obnoxious knife-thrower is calling for you." "I don't see him being that kind of high-class goods, but honestly demons are so . . ." "You." Ciel said. "Stop saying that here. If you make us suspicious to the rest of the circus, we'll do something about it." Ciel crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It's good they thought you were joking earlier, but not being able to blend in with humans is worse than even that vulgar grim reaper." "Really, we shall not interfere with your job," I assured the reaper. "So will you keep from doing the same with ours?" "I'm grateful." The reaper said in a dull but annoyed tone. "Since I do not wish for you lot to enter my field of vision." "Perfect," Ciel said. "Then tonight it's decided that we will absolutely not interfere with each other."

"Then, Smile." The Reaper said. "I'll ask you to keep an iron grip on your pet dog." "I don't want to hear that from some glasses who can't even sneak in properly." "It's not Glasses." The reaper said, straightening his spectacles. "It's Suit."Ciel turned away from the reaper "Let's Go Sebastian." I followed my young master.

Ciel's POV

After the performance that night, Joker gathered me, Melody, Sebastian, and Will so we could receive our tent assignments. I was rather exhausted from moving some heavy crates during the show. "For fairness, these're results of the lottery. Angel, you are in Tent 8, and this is your roommate!" Joker said, referring to the young woman with short brown hair that was swept over one deep-blue eye and had freckles that dotted across her nose.. "It's nice to meet you Angel." The woman said smiling and offering her hand out to Melody. "I'm Freckles." Melody gave her an equally sweet smile and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Smile and Black, you are in Tent 9." Joker said. I mentally sighed in relief. _At least we can move around the circus with more ease._ "And your roommate will be Suit." "Whaaaaat?" I said, not believing what I was hearing. I could already feel the negative tension between Sebastian and William, growing stronger and stronger by the minute.. "This is the worst." William said. "I'll say it back at you." Sebastian said, his tone annoyed. "Good Luck with that." Melody said, "I'd hate to be in the middle of that mess." "Come one, Angel!" Freckles said. "I'm coming!" Melody shouted back. "I'd better go." She kissed my cheek and said goodnight, before leaving to follow her tentmate.

Melody's POV

"Can I take the top bunk?" Freckles asked when I got into our tent. "Go ahead. I would prefer to be on the bottom bunk anyway." I told her. Freckles climbed up into the top bunk and looked down at me. "S'been on my mind for a while. You speak some pretty fancy upper class English, don'tcha?" "R .. .really?" I asked. "It's probably because I've been working in a house since I was little." "Blimey, anyhoo, you just give me a shout if there's somethin' you ain't ettin'! There's a long life in the circus ahead of you!" Freckles said. "Oh righ' wanna 'ave some sweets?" she asked, pulling three different colored sweets from her bag. "Them's from the popular Funtom Company! What'd you like, caramel, milk, or strawberry-flavored?" "Well, um . . I'll take caramel." I said. She gave me the sweet and laid back into her bed.

"Hey Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"Training might be rough, but do your best okay?" she said. "If you do your job right, you won't get yelled at or punched, and you could eat as many sweets and biscuits as you want." I laid down in my bunk, after putting the sweet into my coat pocket_. I may be a demon now, but I still needed my sleep._

* * *

Freckles woke up early the next morning and got down from her bunk. She looked at Angel's bunk to see that she was still curled up, asleep. _Aww, she looks so cute! _Freckles thought to herself _It's almost a shame to wake her up. _But as newcomers, they had to get up and prepare breakfast for the other members of the circus and she wasn't going to let Angel get punished for not knowing. Freckles shook Angel's small shoulder. "Oi, Oi!" she said, before she saw Angel yawn and rub her eyes. "Newcomers 'ave t'get up early an' make breakfast!" "I'm up, I'm up." Angel said, stretching like a cat. Angel swung her legs over the side of her bunk and got dressed for the day. She tied her long, raven black hair back into a braid and followed Freckles out of the tent

The early December air nipped at Angel 's nose as she left her tent to help make breakfast. Other newcomers were just getting up and helping, including Black and Smile. Freckles told Angel to go help Smile peel potatoes, who was currently shredding them to bits. A little while later, She saw that Angel was teaching Smile how to peel them properly and when they were finished, Black cooked them."C'mon Angel!" Freckles said, grabbing Angel's hand and running "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the meat!"

As Freckles sat down with her large plate of food, she noticed that Angel only had a small loaf of bread on her plate. "Only got bread in the end?" she asked. "Well that's that. I'll share some of my grub with you!" "You're so tiny, so eat up and grow some." "Uh . . thank you." Angel said awkwardly as the two of them began to eat. "Anyhoo, Black is so good at cooking!" Freckles said. "I heard that he's an ex-butler so butlers can even cook?" "Awight, I'm done!" Freckles said, getting up from the table. "S'time for practice! Let's go!" "Already?" Angel asked, who hadn't eaten very much.

"That's it! You got it!" Freckles said as she helped Angel balance on a large ball. "You're doing great!" Freckles encouraged. But just as she said it, Angel fell from the ball and landed hard on the ground. "You were doin' so good! What 'appened?" Freckles asked as she helped Angel up. "I think you jinxed me." Angel said in a joking manner. Freckles laughed "C'mon, let's try it 'gain". By the end of their session, Angel could stand on ball for a good ten minutes. "Hoo! I'm all sweaty! Why don't we take a shower, Angel?" Freckles asked. Angel, who was also rather sweaty, suddenly perked up "There are showers?" "Yeah, there are!" Freckles said.

"Cuz, it's cold at night, it's better to get in during the daytime." Freckles explained as she led Angel to the showers. To Angel's surprise, was Freckles called a shower was actually an open bath. "_This _is the shower?" Angel asked. Freckles grabbed a bucket a bucket of water from one of the larger tubs. "Go on, strip down! I'll wash your back." Angel's face was starting to turn red "O-outside, in the middle of winter?" "If you just splash down and wipe yourself off right away, you'll be fine!" Freckles reassured Angel. "Them aristocrats say that ice swimming is good for yer health and its all the rage right now!" Freckles said as she forcibly took off reluctant Angel's coat off, leaving her in a thin shirt and pants. "I-I think I'll pass." Angel said, trying to get away. Angel's foot got caught on a bucket, sending her, Freckles, and the bucket of cold water down onto the floor.

"Blimey! You even got me soaked fightin' like that!" Freckles said. "Would you please move?" Angel said. "Geez! We're both soaked, so just give it up already and strip." Freckles began to pull up Angel's shirt. "Wait, please don't!" Angel pleaded, trying to pull her shirt back down."But you're gonna catcha cold like that!" Freckles said. When she pulled up Angel's shirt a bit more, her deep blue eyes widened at what she saw. Claw-like scars wrapped around either side of Angel's waist, ending two inches before her spine. Above the scars on her left side, was a mark that looked like a brand. Angel wiggled out from underneath Freckles and ran from the showers. "Wait, Angel!" Freckles called, but it was too late.

Sebastian's POV

"Black!" I heard someone shout. I turned to see Melody's tent-mate, Freckles, soaking wet. "Why are you soaking wet?" I asked. "Have ya seen Angel?" she asked, ignoring my question. "Not since breakfast, why?" I asked. Freckles then explained that Melody had run off. "Don't worry, I'll look for her." Freckles sighed "When ya see her, tell her I'm sorry for me wouldja?" I nodded and Freckles left.

I found Melody a few minutes later, shivering and soaking wet, behind a row of covered wagons. I wrapped a towel around her. "You'll catch a cold, my Lady." I said. Melody grabbed the edges of the towel and pulled it around herself. I kneelled to her level and looked her in the eye. _The same beautiful emerald-green eyes that Aurora had._ "The sooner this investigation is over, the better." Melody muttered standing up. "We have to search the tents, tonight, if possible." "Yes, My Lady" I said as she walked back toward her tent.

"Sebastian?" she asked, turning back to look at me.

"Yes?"

"Thank you." She said, then continued walking.


	5. Searching the Tents

Ciel's POV

"Everyone! The performance is about to begin, so hurry up!" Joker called.

"D'ya know where my headdress is?" Wendy asked. "Here it is." Sebastian said, bringing it to her. "We dun't 've enough knives!" Dagger shouted. "Are there spares?" "Right here!" I said, bringing the crate of spare knives to Dagger, then sitting down on a stool. _Will I get around to investigating that tent first? Or keel over from over work first? _Melody soon sat down near me, breathing heavily.

I looked around to see everyone else had gone, except for Sebastian. "Sebastian." I said. He looked at me and the three of us left to investigate the tents. "We have to be done in ten minutes." I told Sebastian. "Yes, my Lord." Sebastian replied.

"Black!"

Joker's voice stopped us in our tracks. We turned to see Joker carrying Wendy with Peter trailing behind him. "Miss Wendy twist'd 'er ankle, so she cun't appear in performance 'nymore." Joker explained. "Please go out in 'er place! It'll be yer turn shortly, so please git ready soon!" Joker then carried Wendy to the first-aid tent. " 'Tis a pity, young master. We'll have to wait for another chance." "We don't need to sneak into that place for long." I said. "On top of that, Now might be the only time when that person isn't in there." Melody continued. "We have time, the tought part is the venomous snakes." I took a quick look at the program and formulated my plan. "You'll catch all the snakes in 5 minutes from now, then appear in the show." I told Sebastian. "Finish your debut at 19:50 (**That would be 7:50pm**) and once you've gone into the back to released the snakes, you'll return for the encore." I then turned to Melody "We'll investigate the rest." "Yes sir." Sebastian said.

Melody's POV

"This is the last of them, isn't it?" I asked. "Yes," Sebastian said, throwing the last snake into its cage. "Go straight to the show tent, you'll be suspicious if you're tardy." Ciel ordered. "Certainly sir," Sebastian said, before leaving Snake's tent. "Ciel, it would be too risky for both of us to look through the tents." I told him. "Let me do it, and you make sure Freckles doesn't go looking for me." Ciel was about to protest, but he must have realized that I had a point. "Fine, just please be careful." He told me. I kissed his cheek "You worry about me too much." Then left Snake's tent and went to look in the one closest

The tent was surprisingly bare. There was only a bed, a trunk, and a floor length mirror. As I walked in closer I saw a photograph of children. . _these must be the first-string members_. and a middle-aged man. _He looks familiar, I think I've seen this man before. . . but where? _I put the photo down and decided to look in the next tent. I searched through four other tents, but found nothing of significance.

Now, I only had Beast's and Joker's tents. I decided to go into Beast's first. I looked through her trunk and found a picture of her as a child, with the same man with her. _That sign behind them . . .workhouse . . an orphanage? So, they must be from the same orphanage. . .But where is it? I need a clearer shot of it . . ._

Sebastian suddenly came in and pushed me into the trunk, then got in after me. "What the-" I was about to say before Sebastian put a glove-covered hand over my mouth. I heard footsteps, and then Beast's voice. "Aw, and I liked this one!" I heard her say. A few minutes later, I heard her walk out of her tent. Sebastian then opened the lid. "We made it in the nick of time." "You're kneeling on my legs." I said, trying to free myself. "My apologies" Sebastian said, getting out of the trunk and helping me up.

I explained what I found to Sebastian, and showed him the picture I found in Beast's trunk. "So you found something in the photograph, My Lady?" he asked, then got a closer look at the photo, and pointed to the ring on the man's finger. "I have seen this same hallmark as the one on this signet ring recently." Sebastian explained. " I am certain this hallmark is the same one at the base of Ms. Beast's prosthetic leg." "I've seen this man's face before . . " I said. "I just can't remember where. . ." "It's almost time." Sebastian told me, clicking his pocket watch open. "This will be all for today." "I still have to search Joker's tent." I said. "We're short on time, but we do have eight minutes. You head back, so you don't draw suspicion. I'll finish up here. Then stick to the plan from there, okay?" Sebastian bowed "Yes, My Lady." I nodded and left to search Joker's tent.

I quickly went into the tent and searched through his trunk, and found picture of that man again. _From how he's dressed, he's either from the affluent class or aristocracy. He's photographed with the workhouse children, a philanthropist? _I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked to see a letter sticking out from underneath a pillow. I pulled it out, it was addressed from Tom, the piper's son. _The piper's son, like from Mother Goose? _I opened the letter and my eyes widened.

_This is . . my name! and Ciel's too! Why?! Why is our names in this place? Don't tell me our cover been blown?! _I heard footsteps and the first-string members' voices. _Damn it! They're back! _I quickly put the letter back in its original position and got out of Joker's tent, hiding behind a few large crates. _This is bad . . . I stayed for too long. I have to get out of here quickly before someone finds me! _ "Hey." I heard a voice from behind me. I looked to see Doll, and she was looking right at me. "What're you doin' here?"

She put a hand over my mouth. "Don't move." "Hey Doll," Dagger called "What are ya doing?" I began to panic, _Doll was going to tell the others I was here! _"Snake!" Doll called, picking up a rattlesnake that was a few inches away from biting my hand. She stood up and showed Snake and Dagger the snake. "A venomous snake was slithering about. Didn't I tell you not to let them loose outside?" Doll said, "You'd better put them away in your room properly now." Snake grabbed the venomous serpent from Doll's hand and left to put it back in his room. Doll then looked at me and grabbed my hand. "This way." She said, pulling me away from the private tents and over the fence that surround them. She then led me behind some of the tents nearby. "We should be fine now, since we came this far." I coughed. "Why did you help me?" Doll gave me a strange look "You still don't get it? It's me." Doll took of her wig.

"Freckles?!"

"So, why were you in there anyways?" Freckles, or should I say Doll asked."Didn't Joker tell you about the snakes?" I coughed, my chest feeling uncomfortably tight. _For now, I have no way out than to pretend I'm a thief._

I covered my head with my hands "I'm sorry! I didn't actually steal anything today though! Please don't boot me out of here!" "Today?! You . ." Doll said. "I lived in the East End, I had to do any I could just to survive." I falsely admitted. "I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help myself. I . . if I was driven out of here, I'd have to live in the East End again. . . " Doll was quiet for a moment. _Did I overdo it? _

"So you really didn't steal anything?" she asked. "No, I didn't! I swear to God!" I told her. Doll rubbed the back of her head "It's okay." "Thank you so much!" I said happily. "Anyhow, I owe you." Doll said. "I think everyone has some things about them that they don't want anyone to know . . . besides, I did something bad to you." Doll smiled at me "So, I won't tell anyone about this. And now we're even."

"However, don't steal no matter what!" Doll lectured. "Y-yes." I said, before coughing again "Hey, can I ask you something? Why does a first-tier member like you share a tent with me?" "Ah . . I'm just not a fan of private rooms." Doll explained, before turning her face away from me. "Staying with someone else makes me sleep better sometimes." She turned back to look at me "I hope that you don't mind sharing a tent with me now that you know I'm a first tier member." "Of course not." I replied.

Doll smiled and gestured her hand toward me "Neat. So we will keep what happened today our secret." I shook her hand and smiled "Okay." Doll then said goodbye and left.

_Even though she says it, there's no proof that she won't tell anyone. Gah, don't think like that. Doll is a good person . . . .or at least tries to be._

Ciel's POV

_It's getting late. I hope Melody made it out okay. Sebastian came back a while ago, after he released the snak-. _I sat straight up in my bunk. "Sebastian, you did make sure that Melody made it out of the tents _before _you released the snakes, right?" Sebastian looked over to me "You gave the order to release the snakes before the first tier members returned." I face-palmed "You idiot! Melody could have been bitten!" "I'm fine." Melody said, coming into our tent. She was wheezing and coughing. "I found a piece of paper with our names on it in Joker's tent." She reported, then coughed again. "Ranks, address, personal history . . " She leaned against the bunk's post. "The sender is . . ahh!" Before she could tell me the name of the sender, William snapped his death scythe at Melody's ankle.

"You are intruding onto my private property by three centimeters." William said in a dull tone. "Incapable of staying apart as you both decided." Melody gave William an annoyed look before coughing again. "Let's continue this outside."

"So, the sender's name is _Tom, the piper's son_." Melody said, shivering. "Also, there is a hallmark with of a horse in the sealing wax *cough* along with the initial K." "Then it's the same one I saw." Sebastian said "In other words, _Tom, the piper's son_ is someone who holds a family crest with the prefix of a horse. People who usually have their family crests displaying a horse are usually knights or other soldiers." "It's not a rule, though it's basically impossible to get one without a rank of some level." I explained to Sebastian "Normally, the sealing is engraved with a symbol of motivation and the initial of the person, plus the family crest." "All these crests would be recorded by a heraldy." Melody said, coughing again. "No matter how many records they have, we should be capable of finding it with this information alone." I thought aloud. "The disappearing children, a circus, tom the piper's son, and us. *cough* How are all of these pieces connected?" Melody asked.

Her coughing was getting much worse than it had been only five minutes ago. "My Lady?" Sebastian said, his tone growing concerned. "We'll go back . . to the townhouse . . " Melody said, before coughing again. She fell to her knees, still coughing hard. "Melody, Melody what's wrong?!" I asked her, panicking. "Oi! Angel?! What's wrong?!" Freckles called, seeing Melody on her knees. She was struggling to breathe, like her throat suddenly closed up."Oh no." Sebastian said, almost as if he was realizing what was going on. He picked Melody up off from the ground and rushed to the first aid tent. _Please, Please be okay!_

* * *

"It's asthma." Doc said. Melody was in the first aid tent, unconscious . "Asthma?" I asked. "We've lived together for over a year and I've never seen her like this before." "All you need is a sudden chill or time of stress . . . .then if she gets a cold it can come back suddenly." Doc explained. I looked at Melody to see that she was awake. "Oh, you've regained consciousness. " Doc said. "W.. water." She choked out. Sebastian gave her a sip of water and pulled back. "Angel, you've had bad asthma since you were young, right?" Doc asked her "There are cases from where people have died from it . You should be careful even if you think you have fully recovered. Rest until the fever and coughing has stopped. Okay?" "Bel . .a" she muttered before closing her eyes again.

"This is no good, her mind is muddled." Doc said. "She's not going to die, is she?" I asked, growing worried. "No, Smile." Doc said "Just make sure she's careful from now on and she should be fine. Why don't you head off to bed, I'll look after her for the night." I nodded and left the first-aid tent.

Sebastian's POV

"I'd like to stay and help, if you don't mind." I asked Doc. "I'm much obliged." Doc said. When Doc rolled away in his wheel chair, I put a cool cloth to Melody's forehead in an attempt to bring her fever down. _Asthma, just like Aurora . . . . _

"How is she?" Doc asked rolling back in. "She seems poorly off. Might I suggest something that may help?" I asked. "One of my previous employers also had asthma, and mint oil helped sometimes. You wouldn't happen to have some?" "Ah, so that explains why you recognized the symptoms." Doc said "Yes, I may have some . . now where did I put it?" He looked through various bottles. I looked back at Melody, to see her awake and gesturing for me to come closer. I kneeled by her bedside and she tapped the bed.

I gave her my open palm as she tapped out the message : _Find out who that man with the signet ring is. Then come and get me in the morning. _I turned her hand over and tapped the message : _Yes, My Lady. _She gave me a weak smile, then closed her eyes and fell asleep. I ruffled her hair and left the first-aid tent.

"I'll start with the closest . ." Suddenly, that damn reaper's scythe came snapping in front of my face. He continually tried to attack me but I dodged them. "Where do you think you are going?" the reaper asked. "I'm quite sure I told you not to wander off without your master." "I'm sorry but my Master would refuse to leave without Melody, who has asked me to do it instead." "I'm not listening to any excuses." The Reaper said. "Until my inspections is finished, you are not allowed to carry put an independent actions. So get back into the tent." He aimed his death scythe at me again "One small mistake can lead to lots of overtime." I caught the death scythe in my hand, crimson blood staining my white gloves. "My apologies. But I mustn't wake her."

"You don't want to cause trouble here either, do you?" I asked the Reaper. "Would you like to make a deal with me? If you let me go for one hour, I vow that I will never eat souls in your assigned area again. It's only an hour. What do you say?" The Reaper took back his death scythe "I refuse." "To deceive prey with sweet words and drag them into darkness." He said, wiping my blood of his scythe. "Isn't that a demon's signature ability?" "Indeed," I replied, taking my stained glove off. "As I expected, it didn't work. You have left me with no other choice." I licked some blood off my injured hand "Let's think of another way."

_**Well, that was quite a scare. **__**Please Review.**_


	6. Recovery

**_I'm really sorry I haven't been updating. Last week was pretty crazy at school and I didn't get time to work on the story. But don't worry. I have a four day weekend this week, so I will be updating a bit more._**

**_A friend of mine has pointed out a few plot holes in the story which I didn't catch until now. So I will be explaining some of them_**

**_The Queen, also known as Queen Victoria is in fact still alive. The one controlled by Ash was a fake, while the real Queen was imprisoned by Ash's followers. After Ash was killed by Sebastian, the real Queen Victoria returned with no memory of her imprisonment and of the events that occurred during that time with the fake Queen ruling._**

**_As the closest living family member to Alois, Melody took on the role as the Queen's spider after his death. The news of Alois's death was not made public, so very few people are aware that he was dead (basically only Ciel, Melody, Sebastian, and The Queen know he's dead)_**

**_Okay, now on with the chapter . . . . . ._**

* * *

Melody's POV

_Ugh . . . .I feel like shit. What the hell happened? I was talking to Sebastian and Ciel, and then . . oh . . now I remember._

I opened my eyes to see Sebastian and Ciel standing over my bedside. "How are you feeling?" Ciel asked, worry etched in his eye. I slowly sat up and coughed. "Better than yesterday." I told them. They both sighed in relief. Sebastian offered me water, which I gladly accepted. He put his uncovered hand on my forehead "Your fever has lowered considerably." Sebastian said, smiling at me. "Say, what happened *cough* to your gloves?" I asked Sebastian. "Oh, I got them a bit dirty." Sebastian replied. "There's no need for us to be here anymore. Let's go while everyone else is at breakfast."

Ciel's POV

Sebastian carried Melody as we walked back to the carriage that was waiting for us. On the way there, I spotted William. Sebastian must have seen him too for he said "We've finished our business here, so we'll excuse ourselves now." William adjusted his glasses "Be my guest. . . I don't care where you go, as long as your master is with you."

By the time we got back to the townhouse, Prince Soma had started shouting at us. "Ciel! Melody! Where the Hell did you go for two days without telling me anything! If you were gone out any longer, we would have sent out a search party!" "It's none of your business." I told Prince Soma, already annoyed at his presence. Melody started coughing again, which got Prince Soma's attention. "What happened to you, Melody? You look pale." Prince Soma asked. "I'm fine, it's nothing to worry about." Melody said as Sebastian carried her upstairs. "There's no way you're fine!" Prince Soma said "You definitely have a cold. Do you have a fever?" "I don't!" Melody said. "Liar!" Prince Soma shouted. Sebastian carried Melody into her room and shut the door behind him.

Sebastian's POV

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked when I put Melody down onto the bed. "You never asked, so I never told you." Melody replied, before giving out a slight cough. "Besides, I haven't had an attack like that since. . . ." she stopped for a moment, then shook her head "It doesn't matter anymore. The point is that I'm fine now and that's that. Now, could you please leave so I get dressed?" I nodded and went into the hall.

Ciel's POV

"By the way, what were your findings about that signet ring?" I asked when Sebastian came back into the hallway. "The owner of the mark is Baron Kelvin." he reported. "Kelvin?" I said. "Is the name familiar my Lord?" Sebastian asked. "I'm not too fond of charity events so he isn't one of my direct acquaintances." I explained. "But I did greet him at some parties my predecessor took me to." The door to Melody's room opened. "Knowing his name is enough, let's go." Melody said, completely ready to go. She turned to walk down the hallway, only to see Agni blocking the way. Prince Soma suddenly popped his head out from behind Agni. "Don't think you can easily get out of this townhouse while it's being guarded by me!" Prince Soma said "I _know _you've caught a cold, Melody. As the governor of this mansion and as your friend, I cannot allow it!" "Don't be stupid, I told you I'm fine." Melody insisted, before letting out a small cough. "Agni! Don't let Melody pass." "Jo ajna." Agni replied, not allowing Melody to leave."We have a job to do!" Melody said. "I don't have time to argue with you! *cough* Please get out of the way!" "The only job a sick person has is to stay in bed and be looked after!" Prince Soma said. "I'M DIFFERENT! I CAN MANAGE!" Melody shouted, before starting to cough again, steadily getting worse. "Mistress Melody, please return to bed." Agni said. "That kind of coughing is characteristic to asthma , there's no way you are okay!" "I'm _Fine_, Agni." Melody insisted.

"That's enough," I finally said, annoyed. "It's ungentlemen-like to disrespect a lady. Sebastian, get these two out of my sight!" "Understood." He said. Before he could fulfill my order, Agni stood up from his kneeling position. "Mister Sebastian, you ought to be ashamed! And you call yourself the Phantomhive's khansama?!" he yelled. "Pardon?" Sebastian asked. "As a fellow butler – no, as your friend, I'll say this." Agni said, his voice shaking. "The health of our masters is our first concern! Even thought it goes against orders, don't you think that considering Mistress Melody's condition, you should have stopped her? You should take care of her as if she was your own daughter! Isn't that the butler aesthetic?!" Sebastian's eyes went wide as Agni lectured. The room was silent for several seconds, besides the occasional cough from Melody.

"You have a point." Sebastian said, breaking the silence. "Now that that's settled" Prince Soma said, grabbing Melody from behind "The patient will sleep." "Get off of me!" Melody said, trying to push Prince Soma off of her.

Sebastian's POV

"Now you're at ease!" Prince Soma said. "Indeed." Agni said. Melody was now sitting in bed, in her nightgown, propped up by pillows. "This is ridiculous," she muttered as Prince Soma and Agni then left, leaving me and Ciel with Melody. "Perhaps it's for the best," Ciel told her, sitting on the edge of the bed. "The sooner you're better, the sooner we can finally end this case." Melody huffed and then leaned back. Ciel smiled at Melody's annoyance "I'll come back to check on you in a little bit." He then got up and left the room. I walked over to her bedside and felt her forehead. "Goodness, what a fever. . . " I commented. I saw her emerald-green eyes flutter close and she fell asleep. I was about to leave when a bright gleam of silver caught my eye. I looked back to see that Melody was still wearing her necklace.

Without waking her, I slipped the silver chain off of her neck and looked at the ring that hung from it for a moment. The black metal band and blood-red stone shined in the candle-light, exactly the way it was when I gave it to Aurora almost fourteen years ago. I put the necklace into my pocket for safe-keeping, and then watched Melody sleep for a little while.

_She's so much like Aurora. With her sweet and caring nature, It's almost hard to believe she is half-demon. _The thought stopped me. _How in the name of hell am I going to tell her the truth? How can I, without her reacting badly? The last thing I want is for her to hate me . . . . _I sighed and got up to perform my nightly duties.

* * *

"It seems like her fever has dropped" I commented the next morning. "She's breathing normally and her color has improved immensely since yesterday." Agni added. "She should be alright." "Sleep's the best medicine, so let's not wake her yet." I told Agni as I attempted to wake up my sleeping master. Agni and I found both our masters asleep on either side of Melody's bed when we came in to check on her. "Young Master, we should leave Lady Melody alone for a while so she can sleep." I told him when he opened his eyes. "Y-yes of course." Ciel said, yawning. He looked at Melody for a moment then left the room to return to his own chambers.

As I walked down the hallway to do my daily duties, I heard Agni call me. I turned, seeing Agni with Prince Soma asleep on his back. "I'm sorry for being so forward and yelling so loudly at you yesterday." "Nonsense," I told him. "You were only doing what you saw to be best." "You shouldn't say such things," Agni said "For me to give guidance . . . I think you are a more perfect butler than I" "But you are not kind enough." A sleepy voice said.

"My Prince!" Agni said, noticing his master had awoken "I thought you were asleep after tending to –"

"I am asleep" Prince Soma mumbled."Agni is talking right now. Move your lips." "Why?" Agni asked. "He's scary to talk to." Prince Soma muttered. Agni complied and lip-synched with what the Prince was saying "Compared to me, you are not nice at all." "Not nice?" I asked, a bit confused. "Exactly" Prince Soma said. "Melody is still a child. She would be fawned over and cuddled by her parents when she had a cold. But she doesn't have them. Well, it's not like I had anything like that, but Mina and an elderly servant fawned over me in their place." Prince Soma peeked his head over Agni's shoulder "So _you_ should be nice to her and fawn over her with all your might." "Be kind, you got that?" Prince Soma said, before running in the opposite direction. "My Prince! What a kind heart!" Agni cried.

_Be kind and fawn over her?_

* * *

Melody woke up later that evening and quickly sat up "What time is it?" "Just past seven in the evening." I said, besides a metal cart. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked. "It was a decision that I should put your health first." I said, before putting a small blanket over her shoulders. "I also decided you could have dinner in bed." I said, uncovering the food.

"What are you doing Sebastian?" she asked.

She must have seen my surprised look, for she quickly put her hands up defensively "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but this is a little much."

I quickly realized she was trying to say this in the nicest way possible. I chuckled quietly and put a hand over my heart. "My apologies."

"You don't have to apologize," Melody said, giving me a small smile. She suddenly felt around her neck and her eyes widened in panic. "What's wrong?" i asked. "My necklace, its gone!" she said. I pulled out the missing necklace from my pocket. "Is this it?" Melody nodded and put the silver chain back around her neck."Thank you Sebastian, this means a lot to me." We were silent for a while, then Melody spoke up "Did you locate the Kelvin estate?" "Yes, I have had plenty of time after all." I told her. "Excellent." Melody said smiling then swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Let's end this quickly and go back to the main house." I got to one knee and placed a hand over my heart. "Yes, My Lady."

Ciel's POV

"Melody! You are not trying to leave again are you?" I heard Prince Soma shout from the main hall. I looked to see that Melody was dressed to leave along with Sebastian. She seemed to be feeling a lot better than she did yesterday."You'll ruin your health this way!" Prince Soma exclaimed. "I heard you and Ciel stayed up all night by my bedside?" Melody asked. "Huh? Well, yes . ." Prince Soma said. Melody gave him a small smile "I'm feeling much better now thanks to the two of you." While Prince Soma droned on about how good a nurse he is, the three of us walked past him and out the door. Sebastian picked both me and Melody up then dashed off into the night.

* * *

_**Things are about to get intense . . . Please Review :3**_


	7. Baron Kelvin

Ciel's POV

We arrived at Baron Kelvin's manor within a few minutes. There were no lights coming from the windows, but I didn't care. This was all going to end tonight.

"The children are here." Melody said, getting to her feet. "I don't know if all of them are here, but the ones that are here are safe." I mentally sighed in relief as we walked up to the doors of the estate. The large wooden doors creaked open, a voice saying "Welcome." A figure emerged from the gloom, Joker. "We have been expecting you, Earl Phantomhive and Lady Trancy." His voice was monotone, as if he no longer recognizes us as friends. _That was perfectly fine with me._ "Joker." I said. "Please come in." Joker said in the same monotone voice, gesturing us to go inside. We walked in, Sebastian closing the door behind us.

The interior had no light, so I couldn't see any details of the main hall. Joker snapped his fingers. Immediately, I heard a creaking noise, like a marionette puppet being manipulated. A small flame appeared, lighting all the candles in the room by the use of strings, illuminating the room. The main hall was decorated with life-sized puppets. Most were incomplete, but they were everywhere. "This way, please." Joker said, directing us to a staircase. We decided to follow him quietly until Sebastian whispered "What do you want to do? Kill him right away and rescue the children?" The plan seemed tempting, but Melody whispered "No, if they're alive, it would be best to capture Lord Kelvin." I nodded in agreement to Melody's plan as we walked down the darkened hallway. "Also, we don't understand the situation or his goals completely, so we can't report it to the Queen." I whispered to them. "Understood." Sebastian muttered as Melody gave me a nod.

Joker started to chuckle. "Well they say don't judge a book by its cover, you two are good example." "Such small bodies under stage names such as "The Queen's guard dog" and "The Queen's spider." Joker said, turning back to look at us. "I reckon that's a hardship Smile, Angel." "My name is Earl Ciel Phantomhive." I said coldly, "I will not have a servant speak to me with such familiarities." "Exactly, you are a noble after all." Joker then directed us to a pair of large doors, leading into an elaborately decorated dining hall with a small stage in front of it.

He pulled out our chairs as me and Melody sat down at the table. Joker then went to the opposite side of the room, when I heard a squeaking noise, like the sound of a wheelchair being pushed. The doors on the side of the room where Joker stood opened, revealing who I assumed to be Baron Kelvin.

His head was bandaged, only one eye, his nose and mouth remained uncovered. He appeared to be in his mid-forties, maybe early fifties. I couldn't really tell. His wheelchair was pushed by two small children with vacant looks on their faces "L-Lord Phantomhive! L-Lady Trancy! You came!" he said in an almost excited tone. "Ahh, it's like a dream having you two so close to me!" He looked at his hands. "Though I feel so ashamed to meet you while looking this way." "You are Baron Kelvin?" Melody asked. "That's right! But it makes me feel awkward to be all formal with you two." Kelvin said "I've prepared a feast for you!" Suddenly, half a dozen children in servant uniforms came in with plates of food and laid them out on the table in front of us. Joker pulled out a bottle of wine and poured two glasses out. "The wine is from 1875, the year you two were born!" Kelvin said happily, then rubbed the back of his head "I might sound as though I'm showing off a little." Melody and I exchanged looks, I knew we were thinking the same thing.

_This man is a total creep._

Joker put the two glasses of wine in front of me and Melody. Sebastian took a sip from Melody's glass. "it isn't poisoned." He said, putting the glass back on the table. "I have no intention of touching food served by a rat so there is no need to taste for poison." I told Sebastian. "It appears that they are more victims than the police knew about." Melody commented, seeing the children serve us. "Something is o-" "Oh, I know!" Kelvin said, interrupting Melody. "A meal without entertainment would bore you, wouldn't it? Joker! Put on your show!" Joker seemed hesitant. "W-What? B-but." Joker began to say, before Kelvin cut him off. "Just do it." Kelvin said, a lobster tail in hand. Joker hesitated, before bowing to Kelvin "Of course." He said, before going to the small stage in front of us. He stood in the very center, twirled a cane, and pointed to me and Melody. "Welcome Earl Phantomhive and Lady Trancy," he said "Tonight, I will accompany you to a world of pleasure that will leave you dazzled." The curtain on the stage rose, revealing a dozen children in brightly colored costumes and masks. Kelvin laughed and clapped as Joker began his show.

"First we have our tightrope walker." Joker said, directing our attention to a little girl about to walk on the rope. "With no lifeline our anything, this is the real deal." Joker said. The girl took two steps before falling head-first onto the stage floor with a sickening crack. Melody let out a small gasp. Joker winced at the sound, but Kelvin only kept laughing and clapping at the spectacle as one of the other children dragged the girl's body off the stage, leaving a trail of blood behind them. "Next our wild animal trainer!" Joker said, as a few children pulled out a cage with a small boy and a fully grown lion. "Watch as he tames this wild-" Before Joker could say another word, the lion attacked the boy.

Melody put a hand to her mouth, like she was going to be sick. I had a similar feeling to hers as we watched the child being ripped to shreds. I looked at Baron Kelvin, only to see him cheering and clapping at the gruesome scene. "Then our knife thrower!" Joker said, directing our attention to a girl strapped to a moving platform as a boy with knives prepared to throw them. "What will become of this maiden on the cross?" The boy threw the knife. "Stop him!" Melody and I shouted at the same time. Sebastian quickly caught the knife before it could plunge itself into the girl's head. Sebastian removed the girl's mask. "Ellery Nicholson, who disappeared in Cornwall." Sebastian said, holding up a photo of the missing child. "There is no mistake. As you expected." "Kidnapping children to put on a show without any training." Sebastian said. I see, this is just another way to enjoy a circus."

"S-sorry, did you not like this either?" Kelvin asked. "Joker! Clean this up at once!" Melody stood up from her seat. "Shall we put an end to this, Ciel?" "Yes," I told her, standing up from my seat. "I have no desire to sit at a table with a beast that is more despicable than an animal." "Wh-What? What's wrong?" Kelvin said, his tone growing nervous. _He should be nervous. _"This will do for the report to the Queen," I said, walking toward Kelvin. "Vulgar, Ugly, Perverted, The lowest form of human life." I snarled. "Is what I, the Watchdog of the Queen, has gotten rid of!" I drew my gun to shoot Kelvin, but stopped when Dagger's blade came within inches of my neck. Melody immediately drew her gun and aimed it at Joker as Sebastian stopped Joker from killing me, holding a throwing knife to Joker's neck. "My lord?" Kelvin said quietly, before seeing the blade pointed at my neck. "Joker! Don't point that dangerous thing at the Earl!" "But-" Joker tried to dispute. "You disobey me?!" Kelvin said. Joker drew back his sword."The kidnapped children, where are they?" Melody asked Kelvin, now pointing her gun at his head. "What? You want to meet those children?" Kelvin asked. "They are in the basement. I can take you there right away. Besides, there was something down there I wanted to show you two anyway."

Melody's POV

Baron Kelvin led us into an elevator that would take us down to the basement. "To walk beside you like this, it's like a dream come true!" Kelvin said, as the elevator doors opened. "Don't waste your breath." Ciel said. "Just take us to the children." "S-sorry." Kelvin said as he led us to the basement. "But I'm just so happy. I've been filled with regret ever since that day. . . Why couldn't I be at your sides that day?" He led us to a pair of large ornate doors. "_That day? Our sides?_ What the bloody hell are you talking about?" I asked him. He ignored my question as the two children began to open the doors. "No matter how much I regretted it, Time wouldn't turn back." Kelvin said. "But I realized something; If I couldn't go back, we could just do it again!" By this time, the doors were opened wide. "I'm afraid it took me four years to get ready."

I let out a gasp and took a step back. _No, no this. . this can't be it . . .it can't be . . . _Images flashed through my mind. _The blood-covered table . . . the vacant children . . . . adults holding me down as they branded me . . . . the screams. . . . . the horrible, gut-retching screams. _I was visible shaking at this point, my brain throbbing against my skull. I looked over to Ciel to see him in a similar state.

"Now, Lord Phantomhive, Lady Trancy," Kelvin said excitedly. "Let's repeat that day four years ago!"


	8. That Day

Every detail was exact.

From the pristine white marble columns and the stone benches that surrounded the center of the room to the metal sacrificial table to the three iron cages that held about half a dozen children.

For Ciel and Melody, they saw something different.

Crimson blood dripping down the table from the most recently murdered child. Men and women who wore masks to cover their faces and cloaks to hide their bodies, laughing at them. The wicked shine of the knife before it claimed its next victim. They heard the screams of the dying children, pleading for someone . . . .anyone . . . .to save them.

"You know, I remember the day I met the two of you." Baron Kelvin said with a smile, then turning back to look at the two traumatized teens. "Yes, it all started on that day eight years ago!"

_Flashback_

_"Lord and Lady Kelvin!" Earl Barton greeted. "I'm delighted you came!" "Earl Barton, what a magnificent party you've thrown." I complemented. "I look forward to talking to you about philanthropic activities." "So do I" Earl Barton said. "Oh, and there's some people I would like to introduce you too. Let's see . . ah, Earl Phantomhive! Lady Trancy!" I looked to see a man and woman talking by the window with two small children. Earl Phantomhive was a tall young man with dark blue hair and copper brown eyes. Lady Trancy was a short young woman with long strawberry blonde hair, emerald-green eyes, and porcelain skin like a bisque doll. The boy, Earl Phantomhive's son, was no more than six years old. He had his father's dark blue hair but had large sapphire-blue eyes. The girl, Lady Trancy's daughter, was about the same age. She had her mother's emerald-green eyes and pale skin but her hair was black as a raven's feather. _

_Their beauty was breathtaking. _

_"Lady Trancy, might I ask where your husband ran off to?" Earl Barton asked, interrupting my train of thought. "He's probably drinking his weight in alcohol as we speak." Lady Trancy replied with a voice like silk."Allow me to introduce the Baron Kelvin." Earl Barton said. "P-Pleased to meet you." I stuttered, holding my hand out to them. "Pleased to meet you too." Earl Phantomhive said, shaking my hand. Lady Trancy would do the same, giving me a small, heart-warming smile. Earl Phantomhive put a hand on his son's head "Go on. Introduce yourself." "It's nice to meet you Baron Kelvin, I'm Ciel." his son said. "Introduce yourself too, my little songbird." Lady Trancy said to her daughter, gesturing for her to come forward."It's very nice to meet you, Baron Kelvin. I'm Melody." she said, before hiding behind her mother's skirt. Lady Trancy gave out a small laugh "I'm sorry, she's a bit shy around strangers." "She's lovely child, she would be a wonderful match for Ciel." Lord Phantomhive said. "Perhaps," Lady Trancy replied "But I'm afraid there much too young to know if they will."  
_

_I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I understood at that moment that these people were special people. _

_Since then, I desperately researched the Phantomhive and the Trancy families. I wanted to know exactly why they were so special. And so I found out there true nature, that of the villainous nobles. Underneath the beautiful flowers, there are thorns. I couldn't help falling in love with what was under the rose.__But then, I realized only special people can be touched by other special people._

_I was too ugly to even think about touching them! My wish to be wrapped in that velvety world of darkness would never be granted. They would be wrapped up in beautiful thorns and become evil flowers . . . .won't they? In that world of darkness, they would become the only great cold moon? Completely out of reach . . . ._

_No!_

_I want to touch them . . . I want to be . . .someone special. Like a bisque doll . . .white porcelain skin, big jewel-like eyes, a youthful body, I will become something else! It doesn't matter if my ugly wife leaves me. I will grow more beautiful by leading a beautiful life! I will be a man worthy of them! _

_But then my cold moon disappeared without warning. First it was Melody, disappearing without a trace a few weeks after that party. Then, it was Ciel, dying in a mansion fire four years later. What was it all for? My life had no meaning . . my days were ashes and dust. And then one day . . _

_"What?!" I shouted. "Is it True!?" "Father, you're shouting." Joker said. "Yes it is," said the man. "The genuine Phantomhive boy. Our buyer just found him recently, along with the youngest Trancy girl who went missing a few years back. A chance to make the Phantomhive heir and the Trancy heir to be used as sacrificial lambs . . Everyone is having fits!" My hands clenched the blanket. "I'm going too!" I shouted. My lost moon had come back to me . . and to a place within my reach! "But, you mustn't!" Joker pleaded. "You only just had surgery! The doctor prescribed a month of bed rest!" "Please take me with you!" I begged. "Please! I'm begging you!"_

_End Flashback_

Ciel's POV

"Even now, I can't forget the pain I felt back then." Kelvin said at the end of his rant. "Only I, who gave up everything to meet you two, couldn't. Why is fate so bent on keeping us apart, I wonder." "And then, on that day, they were all gone." Kelvin said, turning to us. "You killed them, didn't you? How I envy them. A beautiful end, with the cold moon at their deathbeds. . . .Please, make me one of them!" "Look, I have prepared everything just as it was then! This ritual chamber. . The lambs. .and finally, you two!" I pulled the trigger on my gun, the bullet plunging itself straight into the center of Baron Kelvin's chest.

"Father!" Joker cried, removing his prosthetic hand to reveal a dagger. Before Joker could stab me, Sebastian cut off Joker's other hand. "Stay out of my master's way" Sebastian said, as Joker let out a cry of pain. "It hurts, my lord! It's agony!" Kelvin said, groveling at my feet. "If you're going to kill me, please give me the death they had!" "The death they had?" I said. I stomped my foot on Kelvin's head and aimed my gun at him. "Then kneel like a worm and beg the demon to do it." "Please, don't kill him!' Joker pleaded, inching toward us. "Despite what he is, he still saved us! We were abandoned by our parents and our country. He saved us from the fear of starvation." 'Many brothers and sisters are still at the workhouse! If he dies, we can't live on! That's why. ."

"That's why you kidnapped those children?" Melody asked. "You obeyed this man in order to survive, by sacrificing others?" "Yeah, that's right." Joker admitted. "England was a living hell for people born like us. We had nothing, no money for food and no power to protect our friends. But Father saved us from that pile of rubbish. He gave us hands and legs, allowing us to protect what is most precious to us." "That's why we decided to live. Even if another hell was waiting for us." Joker said, bowing his head. "I knew from the start it was wrong but . . ." "You weren't wrong." I said.

"Huh?" Joker said, looking up at me and Melody. "You fought to protect _your _world, isn't that enough? After all, justice in this world is just a bunch of principles made by those with power to suit themselves." I said. "You will lose everything if you can't keep up. That's all." Joker started laughing, falling on to his back. "What's so funny?" Melody asked. "You will also have some important things stolen from you tonight." Joker said. "The troupe is on its way to your manor right now. How do you think we captured all those kids without getting caught? All the witnesses disappear." "We're professionals! We eliminate anyone who crosses our path while on a mission, no matter who or what." Joker said. "I wonder how many people will be killed while the search the manor for you, Earl?" "Killed, huh?" I asked. "Yeah, even your servants won't be spared." Joker replied.

"My servants?" I said. "Just who do you think you are dealing with? They are servants of Phantomhive!" "The Phantomhive House is a phantom that exists solely to dispel the Queen's distresses." I told Joker. "If you step into that den, you can never return to the light." "Those guys are pros, don't think you can" Joker began to say. "You are free to believe it or not," Sebastian interrupted. "However, don't forget these are capable people were hand-selected by me."

Joker was quiet for several minutes, until silent tears began to flow down his cheeks. That's when I heard the squeaking of another wheelchair, and Doc's voice. "Sorry, I'm late! I brought more!" Doc said, wheeling into the ritual room with a cage of children. "Black? Smile? Angel? What are you doing here?" he asked. "St-stay away Doc!" Joker strained to say. "They're the guard dog and the spider!" "Hm? Oh, so you're the ones?" Doc asked. "Run! Please!" Joker pleaded. "What? Why?" Doc asked, standing up from his wheelchair and walked toward us. "I have no reason to run." "Doc? Your legs. ." joker said. Doc laughed. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with my legs! Kids like you wouldn't get all jumpy if I just sat down. Lord Kelvin!" Doc said, now noticing the dead body of Baron Kelvin. "How awful. And I had just met a patron who understood my ideals." "Ideals?" Melody asked. "Yes. For a very long time, I searched for the perfect artificial limb and wanted to continue its development." Doc explained. "After all my research, I was able to make the finest materials possible!"

"It was lighter and sturdier than wood, and more beautiful than the mineral characteristics of ceramics. I have made something no one else had ever made before." Doc explained. "However, gathering the materials was a difficult task." "Indeed, your handmade, artificial limbs have an enchanting feel to them." Sebastian commented. "Like Chinese –made bone porcelain tableware." "Ah, Black you understand its beauty." Doc said. "But could you not put it in the same league as bone porcelain made from _cattle_ bones?" "That's right; you said they are made from special materials?" Sebastian said. "Yes, I can't get them anywhere else but here." Doc proceeded to go to one of the cages that held the children as he continued to talk. "This way, I don't have to put any effort into throwing them away somewhere. Don't you think it's the best recycling ever?"

"No . . ." Melody said, the color draining from her face. "As long as they don't know the truth, everyone is always praising me about how wonderful they are." Doc said, removing a little girl from the cage. "But the Baron was different. Searching for beauty was his highest motivation. He sponsored me with an abundance of materials and money, the best thinkable patron." Doc dragged the girl from the cage to the sacrificial table. "Don't you think it's normal to need the best materials to make the best products? As far as society's idiots are concerned, there's no such thing as success without sacrifice." Doc told us, laying the girl's body on the table. "Cow bones are fine, but a human's aren't? Who decided on that?" Doc said, raising his dagger to kill the girl. Before he could make another sound, a gun was fired.

The bullet went straight through Doc's chest, causing him to fall to the ground in agony. I looked to see Melody, her gun drawn, her expression beyond angry. She walked over to Doc, who was begging her for mercy. "Please Angel!" Doc pleaded, groveling at her feet. "D-don't kill me! Please! I'm begging you!" Melody gave him a sadistic smile. "Oh, I'm an angel alright," Melody said, bringing her face close to his."An Angel of Hell." Her eyes turned to their demonic nature, causing Doc's eyes to widen in shock."M-m-monster." he stuttered out. "Pathetic piece of shit!" She yelled through clenched teeth, stomping on Doc's head with her heel until he no longer moved. After taking a moment to calm herself down, her eyes changed back to their normal green color. Melody walked calmly over to one of the cages. We were silent for a few minutes before Melody spoke up.

"Their minds are gone." She muttered.

"Pardon?" Sebastian asked. "They can't be saved." Melody said."As much as I would hate to say it but, they can't come back from this." She then turned to me "You've seen this look before, on the others. . . ." I knew exactly what she was talking about. The other children, the ones from the cult. . .

"Burn it. Burn everything to ashes." I ordered Sebastian. "Yes, My Lord." Sebastian said, removing one of his gloves. He walked over to three of the candles, and somehow caused the flame to spread into the room around us.

Melody's POV

The manor was engulfed with flames by the time we got outside. I felt some guilt that we were not able to save the children, but I knew that in the state they were in, they wouldn't be living.

A hollow shell, that's no kind of life.

I saw a person on horse-back coming toward the burning manor. As they got closer and I saw their face, my heart dropped. _Doll._

"What the hell is this?" she asked."Joker!" She got off the horse and was about to run inside when she saw us leaving the manor. "Black? Smile? Angel? What are you doing here?" she asked. "What happened?! Where's Joker?!" I bit my lip, I didn't want to tell her what we had just done. "He passed away, I'm afraid." Sebastian said, obviously feeling no guilt. "What are you saying Black?" Doll asked, then grabbed my shoulders. "Angel, talk to me!"

Ciel's POV

"I'm sorry, Doll." Melody said. Doll's eyes went wide, then quickly filled with tears. She fell to her knees, letting out a cry of pain. Melody kneeled and held Doll in her embrace. The action surprised me a bit, but not much knowing Melody's caring nature. They were quiet for several minutes, except for Doll's sobbing. "Doll, I need you to listen to me for a moment." Melody said in a soft tone. Doll looked up, her eye red and puffy from tears.

"I need you to run."

"W-what?" Doll asked. "Run, as far away and as fast as you can. Leave this life behind and start a new one." Melody said in a serious tone. "B-but the others. . the ones at the workhouse. . ." Doll muttered. "They'll be safe, don't you worry." Melody reassured. Doll nodded slowly and hugged Melody tightly. "Thank you, Angel."

After their embrace, Sebastian tampered with Doll's memory. She won't remember that the others died while trying to get us. She would think that it was a carriage accident that killed them, leaving her the only survivor.

Not exactly the best cover story, but it would do.

But she would still remember what Melody had told her, about starting a new life far away from here. Sebastian placed Doll's unconscious body back on to her horse and sent the animal off. "Was it wise to spare her?" Sebastian asked after they disappeared from our sight."Yes," Melody said. "Doll tries to be good. I can't say that Joker or the others tried but I know she did" Melody was quiet for a moment, then shook her head "Let's go back to the main house." "Yes, my Lady." Sebastian said, before picking her up. The three of us then dashed off into the darkened forest, melting into the shadows.

* * *

On a far away hill, two men dressed in white watched the manor burn. "Oh dear, what now?" said the shorter of the two men. "We simply report what we saw." said the taller. "They may have a punishment coming, poor things." The shorter said. "That's not for us to decide." The taller said. "It's up to Her Majesty."


	9. Over the Hills

Ciel's POV

The following day, we were about to board the train when . . .

"Excuse me miss," a voice asked.

When I turned, I saw a small girl walk toward Melody with a basket of oranges. "Would you like an orange? It's only a penny." Melody smiled at the girl "Sure, sweetie." The girl's dark brown eyes brightened up as Melody handed her the coin. "Thank you so much!" the girl said as she gave the orange to Melody. "May God's blessing be with you on your journey!" "Be careful, okay?" Melody said before the girl left. "I will!" the girl said, before disappearing into the crowd.

We went into our compartment and Sebastian loaded the trunk into the shelf above his head. "My apologies, because of our sudden departure, the third-class seats were booked out. Therefore, I will be in first class also." "I don't really care" I said, taking my seat next to the window. Melody sat on the opposite side of the compartment as the train left the station.

Several minutes of silence passed before Sebastian spoke up. "Might I ask why we are visiting the workhouse they grew up in?" "You can't run a workhouse with the patron has gone, you need a new patron." Melody said. "Besides, I promised Doll." "Lord Barton is close by; perhaps he would be willing to donate." i suggested. She put the orange on the window sill. "Out of pity?" Sebastian asked. "The aftermath is the Trancy's job." Melody replied. "There's no need to sacrifice the public for the selfish deeds of the Underworld." I continued.

"Then why did you kill the children?" Sebastian asked. Melody was surprised by this question, and gave Sebastian a serious look before answering. "I've seen that look before. When they became like that, there's no going back." Melody said, before looking out the window "The amount of strength a weak human, let alone a child, would need to come back from a condition like that is unfathomable."

Sebastian's POV

"Melody, might I ask you something?" Ciel asked. "Hm?" Melody asked, looking up. "How did you escape that night?" he asked. "It's been bothering me for a while now, you never did explain how." Melody looked surprised for a moment, then said "If I remember correctly, you let me out."

"Huh?" Ciel said. _Ah that's right. _

_Flashback_

_"It really came!" one of the member said as others cowered in fear. No, this wasn't the one who summoned me."Grant me eternal life and wealth!" shouted another. No, not this one either. I looked toward the cages of children. Most of them were lost, their minds vacant. Only two were not in this state. One was the one who summoned me. _

_Ah, this one. _

_"You have given a big sacrifice." I told the boy. "Now it's your choice to whether to make a contract with a demon and have your wishes granted or not. The price to cross the river has already been paid." "I . . . I . . . want . . . power." He said. "Someone shut him up!" one of the members cried."THE POWER TO TAKE REVENGE ON THE ONES WHO DID THIS TO US!" the blue-haired boy shouted. "Demon! I will make a contract with you!" "So, you're abandoning the light for the path to hell? Fine. Well then, let's mark our bodies with the contract seal." I told him. "The more visible the place where the seal is, the stronger the power . . . so where do you-""Anywhere is fine." He interrupted. "I want power stronger than anyone else's!" I smirked, and then held up his chin. "You're quite greedy, despite your small body." I put my hand over one of his eyes. "I shall put the seal on that big eye of yours, so filled with despair." _

_With that, he made three requests. One, I protect him and never betray him until he has obtained his revenge. Two, I obey his orders unconditionally. Three, I never lie. Just before I burned the place, my new young master went over to the cages of children. He went to the one with that one other child, the one whose mind had not been lost. _

_Something about her stuck in my mind. Her features were a bit distorted, most likely from being beaten. Her shoulder-length, raven-black hair was wild mess and streaked with blood, most likely her own. But something about her eyes, those large emerald-green eyes. . . . ._

_"Open the cage." Ciel ordered. I did as I was told, then he helped the girl up, standing at the same height as Ciel. "Come with us." Ciel offered. "You don't have to live like this anymore, I can protect you." I expected the girl to agree, knowing humans would do anything to get themselves out of a situation. _

_But the girl shook her head _

_"I can't." she said, her voice strained and weak."My siblings . . . I must know if they're okay. . . .They're all I have left" She turned to leave, then Ciel grabbed her sleeve. "Ciel Phantomhive." he said. "If you need help, find me." The girl looked surprised but gave him a silent nod before disappearing into the night._

_End Flashback_

"I was pretty beaten up, so I don't blame you for forgetting." Melody said, giving him a small smile. "So, we've met twice before you came to the manor?" he realized. Melody thought for a moment "Huh, I guess so."

Ciel's POV

"Renbon Workhouse?" said the elderly man with the cart. "Can you let them ride until we get there?" Sebastian asked. "Since it's on my way, I don't really mind sir, but what business do you have there?" asked the man. "Just an errand," Sebastian told him, giving him a few coins for his trouble.

Melody and I rode in the cart as Sebastian walked beside us. After a half-hour or so, the man stopped. "It should be over the hill." The man directed, before setting off without us. We climbed the hill and stood at the top to see the Workhouse.

But it was in ruins.

The windows were smashed, there were massive holes in the walls, certainly no one has lived here in years. "The old pervert was lying." Melody muttered as we walked through the ruins. "By the way the doctor was talking, the children from here were probably . ." Sebastian started. I almost wanted to laugh. _There was nothing here! The thing that they were protecting didn't even exist! Their desperate hope was crushed flat like a worm! How Pathetic! Humans are such incompetent creatures! _I would have said this all aloud if it wasn't for the glancing look at Melody. I could feel the anger rippling of her being, that's what stopped me from laughing. "There was nothing here. . ." she muttered. "The thing they were protecting didn't even exist . . .They didn't even know . . they_ died_ not knowing . . ." Melody's hands clenched into fists. I went over to her a placed a gentle hand on her shaking fist, which caused her to un-clench a little.

"It's amazing." she said.

"Huh?" i asked.

"It's amazing." Melody repeated. "Someone who did such good, turn into something so horrible." The cold December wind blew across the frost-covered hill. I slipped my glove-covered hand into hers.

For one moment. For one brief moment, I let my mind go blank. The only thought I had was of me and her. No enemies, no restrictions, no contracts. Just me and Melody . . .

I loved it.


	10. The Tailor

Sebastian's POV

"I'm sure I have said this before but, you are to perform the job presented to you as quietly as a shadow. That's what servants are . . so," I told the other servants, then looking at the damaged manor. "How many times must I spell out quietly before you understand its meaning?"

"We're so sorry, Mister Sebastian!" they cried.

I sighed as I gave them out their duties for today."In any case, you three will clean up the things that are scattered about please." I ordered. "I'll do something about the repairs and the general affairs." I noticed something on the ground as I talked. _Miss Beast's scarf. _I quickly picked up the burnt fabric and tossed it into a bag. "Tanaka will be fine with just the usual." "Well, everyone today will be very busy." I said. "So don't worry about anything else, just devote your time to cleaning."

Ciel's POV

"Sebastian, it's dreadful!" Elizabeth said, running into the room as Sebastian dressed me. "It's not there! It's not there!" "I'm deeply sorry," Sebastian said. "Because of the servants' clumsiness, both the young master's and Lady Melody's wardrobe rooms were damaged. Right now all we have left is what we brought back from London." "Whaaaaat?!" Elizabeth said, before clapping happily. "If there are none, we can just make some!" "Yes, after the repairs are. ." Sebastian began to say, before Elizabeth cut him off. "Ciel, did you hear what I said?" "Um . " I said, not wanting to tell her I wasn't listening. "So it'll be okay if I call a tailor today?" Elizabeth asked. "I suppose." I told her. "Yay! I'm so happy!" Elizabeth said, spinning me around. "Elizabeth, you're going to rip his arms off." Melody commented, coming into the room when I was full dressed. "Melody!" Elizabeth said, running toward her and hugging her tightly. "Elizabeth! You're crushing me!" Melody said between breaths. "Oh, sorry " Elizabeth said, releasing the ravenette. "But I'm so happy to see you! And great news! We're calling in a tailor for you and Ciel!" Melody groaned. "Oh no, not _her" _she muttered.

"Hello my darlings!" a voice came from the doorway. I looked to see that it was the tailor, Miss Nina Hopkins. "Nina!" Elizabeth greeted. "Aren't you good-tempered, Lady Elizabeth?" Nina said, hugging Elizabeth. "You're lovely as always." After she released Elizabeth, she turned toward Melody. "Lady Melody!" Nina said happily, hugging Melody tightly. "Still a beautiful girl as always! Just like a bisque doll!" Then she turned her attention to me. "The Earl is still a beautiful boy as always." She mused, "It's amazing."

Melody's POV

"Well then, Miss Hopkins." Sebastian said, annoyed by the presence of the tailor. "Please tailor some suits for the Young Master and some dresses for Lady Melody today." "Leave it to me!"Miss Nina said, un-hooking her skirt to reveal her shorts and thigh-high boots underneath. "I will tailor the best outfits possible! Inspired by the latest trends!"

"Nina!" Elizabeth said, her face turning pink form blush."Showing your legs like that is very un-ladylike!" "My lady, that kind of thinking is from the stone age!" Miss Nina said. "These clothes were designed with emphasis on moving easily, paying respect to the active woman, Mrs. Bloomer endorsed! Women who discard restrictive customs are much more free! It's the same clothes, Greek and Japanese style, that are easy to move in and give a relaxed silhouette will be all the rage from now on!" _Please shut up. _"Of course silhouette is important for men too!" Miss Nina continued to rant. "And for a beautiful silhouette, detailed measurements are essential! So Earl, Let's start with you!" "Huh?" Ciel said, obviously not listening. "Earl, are you listening?" "Y-yeah." Ciel said, lying.

Ciel's POV

"You've grown a few inches since I saw you last." Nina commented while taking my measurements. "Your size will need to be adjusted slightly." Nina continued to make her little notes on a piece of paper. "Alright," Nina said turning to Melody. "It's time to take your measurements now." Melody sighed, and stood up onto the stool. "You're still so small." Nina commented before looking at her piece of paper again. "This is tres bien, Lady Melody! Your sizes haven't changed at all!" She then went back to her notes. Melody then sat back to her seat next to me. I looked over to her to see that she tapped the armrest of the chair. I nodded and gave her my hand. She tapped the message onto my open palm: _Please kill me now. _I turned over her hand and tapped : _It'll be over soon, just bear with me. _She sighed then turned over my hand and tapped : _Okay,_ _Want to play a game of chess after? _I smiled at her, turned over her hand and tapped : _I would love too. _Melody smiled back at me.

"Oh how adorable you two are!" Nina said, clasping her hands together, smiling brightly "You make an absolute lovely couple! I can already picture the designs for your wedding outfits!"

"W-wed-ding?" Melody and I stuttered out, our faces turning bright red."Oh Nina that's a wonderful idea", Elizabeth shouted, "you two already make a cute couple so it would be perfect if you got married". "Elizabeth we're not getting married", Melody said trying to calm her down. But it didn't work as Elizabeth continued to rant about it. "Oh and it would be so wonderful. I can be your bridesmaid and Sebastian can give you away! Oh it's going to be so adorable", she said daydreaming about the event."Elizabeth, stop this", I told her firmly, "me and Melody aren't getting married yet." I was ignored as Nina and Elizabeth continued to talk about the wedding."Of course and since I don't do children above the age of 15", Nina started, "I'm going to have to make the designs sooner!" "Listen to people when they're talking to you!", I shouted."Oh, Miss Nina that's incredible", Elizabeth squealed, "oh maybe you can help me with the guest list and the planning" "I'd be happy too," Nina said as she talked continuously about it. I sighed at them, knowing that they wouldn't stop talking about the notion. _Now that I think about it, it wouldn't be so bad if me and Melody did get married._ I turned to Melody to see that she had an annoyed expression on her face.

"You okay?" I asked her. She let out a sigh and turned to me."Yeah, it's just annoying that they're both so consumed with the idea of us getting married". "But that doesn't have to be a bad thing", I said.

"Huh?"

"I-I mean, w-would you want to m-marry me if you had the choice to", I ask, quite embarrassed. She was a little surprised by my question but answered. "You idiot, Of course I would. Just . . . not now" Melody said, her face turning pink from blush. "I'd rather not be married at fourteen." "Yeah, me too." I said, relieved by her answer.

"That's quite enough." Sebastian finally said. Nina and Elizabeth looked at him. "I would highly appreciate it if you could focus on the task given to you, Miss Hopkins." Nina and Sebastian had a stare-down. "This is why I don't like you, Mr. Stiff." Nina said, slamming her hand on the table after about five minutes of intense staring. "Can you please go waste your time somewhere else until the fitting? Get Out! Get out!" Nina said, pushing me, Melody, Elizabeth, and Sebastian out the door. She slammed the door behind us. Sebastian looked at his pocket watch "Well, it's a bit early, but why don't we have afternoon tea?"

"It's time for a fitting you two!" Miss Nina said, just as Sebastian had poured Melody's cup of tea. "already?" I asked.

* * *

"Oh Ciel, you look so cute!" Elizabeth squealed. "Is that so?" I asked. "Yes! Yes! Especially with the frills around your neck!" Elizabeth said. I turned to Melody, who was sitting in a chair as I did my fitting. She gave me a slightly reassuring smile. Suddenly, Nina came in front of me and ripped the shirt to shreds "Wrong!"

"What?" I asked."Wrong! It's all wrong!" Nina shouted. "I didn't want such an ordinary silhouette!" _Damn, the brand! It would be bad if Lizzy sees! _I put a hand to my back, covering the brand. "Ciel, what's wrong?" Lizzy asked. "Ah, it's nothing." I told her. "Why don't you put this on?" Melody asked, holding up a shirt. "Thanks." I said, putting my arms into the sleeves. "No problem." Melody said, smiling at me. "Awww, you two are soo cute!" Elizabeth squealed. "It's like you're already married!" With that comment, my eye twitched "Elizabeth, stop talking about it." "Alright, I've made the necessary adjustments." Nina said. "Lady Melody, it's you turn." Melody groaned.

Melody's POV

"Adorable!" Elizabeth said as I tried on Miss Nina's dress for me. It was frilly and girly, I hated it. "Ah, is there any way this could be not be so frilly?" I asked Miss Nina. "Don't be silly," Miss Nina said, before ripping the dress to shreds. "Wrong!" "What?" I said, now standing in a corset and thin dress. I shivered a bit from cold. "That's it!" Miss Nina cried. She went back to behind the screen. "Um, can I put my clothes back on?" I asked the tailor. "No not yet!" Miss Nina said. I groaned, This was going to take a long time.

* * *

"Not cute at all!" Elizabeth cried. Nina's current dress design was much more to my liking, much to Elizabeth's distaste. The fabric was royal blue, my favorite color. The design was simple with lace around the hem of the sleeves, bodice, and skirt. "I like it." I said, admiring the detail Miss Nina put into the garment. "Oh yay!" Miss Nina said happily. "I'll gladly incorporate this design into your wedding dress!" My eye twitched in annoyance. "Miss Nina, I'm not getting married anytime soon. So I would highly appreciate it if you stopped talking about the notion."

"Prince Soma you can't go in there!" I heard Ciel shout from the hall. "Hey Melody!" Prince Soma said, bursting into the room without knocking. "Prince Soma, what are you doing here?" I asked, turning to see the Bengali prince, followed by Agni and Ciel. "Hey you can't be in here!" Miss Nina said. "Who are you?" Elizabeth asked. "Hey Ciel, who is this girl?" Prince Soma asked.

"Prince Soma, this is Lady Elizabeth. My young master's cousin and childhood friend of Lady Melody's." Sebastian explained. "Lady Elizabeth, this is Prince Soma. The 26th child of the king of Bengal, a friend of my master's and Lady Melody's." "Where's Bengal?" Elizabeth asked. "India." I explained. "If you're Ciel's cousin and Melody's friend, that makes you my friend too!" Prince Soma said happily. "I will most defiantly let you eat my curry!" I looked at Ciel, who was annoyed by Prince Soma's presence. I went over to him, and tapped a message on his open palm : _You Okay? _He gave me a silent nod. I liked this silent communication Ciel and I have, almost like a secret language only the two of us know.

Sebastian's POV

They all sat in the sitting room as I served the evening tea. "She was bedridden?" Elizabeth asked. "Yep." Prince Soma said. "But she refused to let us take care of her." Elizabeth gave a silent nod "Yes, that's Melody alright. Even when we were younger, she hated being treated like she was helpless. That's why she would never said anything when she got hurt or sick." Elizabeth looked down at her tea-cup. "No matter what I did, she would never tell me. What should I do?" _So she was always like that. _ "It's a difficult question for me as a butler, however there is one thing. . ." I looked at the couch where Melody and Ciel sat, seeing that both of them had fallen asleep. Melody's head was resting on his chest and Ciel had one arm draped around her shoulders. "It's been a long time since I have seen the two of them so relaxed." I continued.

I quietly chuckled. _Ciel in love, the idea would be unfathomable to me over a year ago. Now, I watch as my young master sleeps alongside the one he loves, my own daughter of all people!_ _I couldn't be happier that he was the one to win her heart, I know he loves Melody back and would do anything to protect her._

"Mister Sebastian, is something wrong?" Agni asked, interrupting my train of thought. "You appear to be a bit dazed." "It's nothing," I told him with a smile. "Just lost in thought I suppose."


	11. Lau Returns

_**I'm so so sorry I didn't update last week! ( Homework and writer's block is a bitch )But I'm back now with this new chapter. So enjoy, and please review!**_

* * *

Ciel's POV

The scent of ashes and roses woke me from sleep . . . . It was strange scent yet somehow familiar and intoxicating.

I slowly opened my eyes to see that Melody's head was resting on my chest, completely asleep. I turned my head to look out the window of the sitting room; it was already dark out and had just begun to snow. _We've been asleep for a few hours_ . . . I'd say it was about 22:00 (**_That would be about ten pm_**). I didn't really want to get up so I decided that I would stay here for the night. I looked back at Melody and brushed some of hair out of her eyes. She had a serene smile on her face, which was good that means her nightmares hadn't returned. _Nightmares. . ._We both had them but Melody's were often worse than mine. But then again she suffered more trauma than I did. I held her, carefully so I wouldn't wake her up. She moved a little in her sleep, nuzzling her head into my neck. S_he is so cute_.

* * *

When Finnie walked by the open sitting room door, he spotted his young Master and Lady Melody asleep. He noticed that the Young Master was holding Lady Melody as they slept, almost cuddling her. "Aww, they look so cute!" Finnie said a large smile on his face. "Who looks cute?" Mey-Rin asked, walking toward the gardener with a broom in her hand. Finnie pointed toward the sitting room "We have to keep quiet or we'll wake them." Mey-Rin gave him a confused look until she peered inside the sitting room. "Aww look at them, they look so cute", Mey-Rin said as a slight blush appeared on her face. "What are you two looking at?" Bard asked as he joined the two. Finnie pointed in the room and the chef saw the two young teen sleeping peacefully. A smirk grew on his face as he said, "Aww, it's nice that the young master as someone who makes him happy". Finnie and Mey-Rin nodded in agreement as the continued to look at the two.  
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if they had gotten married?" Mey-Rin said. "Okay, now you're sounding like that crazy tailor." Bard replied, before looking back at the sleeping teens. "But I wouldn't mind it." Finnie looks back at the teens and smiles at them brightly. "Yeah, I can almost picture it now." "Star-crossed lovers, yes they are." Mey-Rin thought aloud.

"What are you all doing?" a voice asked. When they turned, they saw Sebastian walking toward them. "We're so sorry Mister Sebastian!" They cried loudly. "Now, now, you know better than that." Sebastian said shushing them. "We mustn't wake the Master and Miss Melody." The three servants breathed out a sigh of relief, then headed to bed. Sebastian let out a small chuckle, having heard everything the servants said.

Ciel's POV

"Ciel," I heard Melody's voice in the darkness of my dream. "Ciel, Ciel, wake up." I slowly opened my eyes to see Melody's pale face above mine. "Hey." I mumbled sleepily. "What's going on?" "Hello, darling Earl." an unfortunately unfamiliar voice said. I turned my head to see Lau and Ran Mao in the doorway. My eye widened in shock. _How the hell is he alive?! _

"What's wrong?" Lau asked, giving us a questioning look. "It looks like you two have seen a ghost." Melody and I looked at each other, then back at Lau and Ran Mao. That's when I saw Ran Mao's golden brown eyes flash fuchsia. _Ran Mao is a demon? . . . That would actually explain a lot. _Ran Mao went over to Melody and grabbed her arm. "Talk. Now." She said, pulling Melody away from me. "H-hey wait a minute!" Melody protested. Ran Mao tightened her grip on Melody's wrist, leading her out of the sitting room without another word.

Melody's POV

Ran Mao led me out of earshot of the sitting room. Questions buzzed in my mind, the first of course being _how the hell is Lau alive?_ Ran Mao must have seen my confused look. "Sorry about that, I just wanted to make sure he was out of earshot." Ran Mao said in perfect English. My eyes widened in surprise, I didn't think Ran Mao could speak English at all, never mind full sentences. But then again she is a demon. "How. . ." I began to say but the rest of my question stuck in my throat and didn't make it any farther than that. "I suppose I do owe you an explanation." Ran Mao said. "After you stabbed my mate, I fished him out of the river and tended to his wounds. Luckily he has no memory of being stabbed; actually he has no memory of the situation with Lady Blanc." "Your mate?" I asked in disbelief. "You mean Lau?" Ran Mao nodded. "He summoned me back in China when he was a child. He's a very . . . . . . _interesting_ human. I made a contract with him and the rest is history."

"Might I ask what the terms of your contract with Lau are?" I asked, curious of why someone like Lau would make a contract with a demon. "Simple really, He didn't want to be alone." Ran Mao said, a small smile appearing on her face. "Oh which reminds me, I'm not going to get revenge on you for nearly killing him. " Ran Mao said. "You were protecting your mate, which I highly respect amongst our kind." "What?! C-Ciel isn't my m-m-mate." I stuttered out, my face growing red from blush. Ran Mao gave out a small laugh "You're adorable, you know that?" "It was obvious that you two have a strong connection, so I assumed you had." Ran Mao stated. "Though now that I think about it, you two are a bit too young to bond."

"Do we just pretend the whole stabbing incident never happened?" I asked the demoness. Ran Mao gave me a silent nod. "Yes, I do believe that would be best." Ran Mao turned to leave. "Wait, can I ask you something?" I asked, getting her attention. "How come you didn't talk like this before?" Ran Mao gave me a small smile "Oh, I don't really like small talk. It's a waste of breath in my opinion. Plus, I can keep my cover as Lau's "little tigress" this way." I gave her a silent nod and the two of us returned to the sitting room.

Ciel's POV

Ran Mao came back with Melody a few minutes later. I let out a sigh of relief, worried that Ran Mao would kill Melody after what had happened in the past. "Well, we must be off. Have a good night, my little lord and lady" Lau said, wrapping his arm around Ran-Mao then exiting the room and out of the manor. "What did Lau's tigress want with you?" I asked, turning to Melody. "Oh you'd be surprised what Ran-Mao had to say." Melody said.

"So they're bonded?" I asked when Melody had finished telling me what happened between her and Ran-Mao. She gave me a nod. "Yeah, and now we're just to pretend the whole situation with Lady Blanc never happened." I sighed, returning to my original position on the couch before this all happened. "Lau can be a valuable pawn in this game, so I'll go along with this for now." Melody gave me a nod, then was quiet for a while before speaking up again. "Um . . . w-w-would y-you m-mind if I-I . . . "she began to say, a blush forming on her cheeks. Realizing what she was trying to ask, I felt my face grow hot. "y-yeah, sure." I said. with that, Melody gently rested her head on my chest, returning to the position she was in before Lau cam barging in. I smiled a little as she began to relax, soon falling back into sleep. I held her close, then drifted back into a dream-less sleep.


	12. New Forms Part 1

Ciel's POV

I was asleep in my bedroom when I heard the door creak open. I opened my eyes to see Melody standing in the doorway.

"Hey." I said in a sleepy voice.

"Hey, mind if I . . ." Melody asked. I moved over a bit, and she crawled into bed with me. She curled up to me, I smiled at her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

I opened my eyes again to see that Melody wasn't there.

_Must have been a dream . . . Perhaps I should just make sure . . ._ I slipped out of my bed noiselessly and opened the door into the hall. The lights were out but, thanks to my new abilities, I could see as well as if the lights were on. I walked as quietly as I could down the hall and to Melody's bedroom door. I opened the door to see Melody in her bed, asleep. But somethings was off. She was breathing a bit heavily, and shifted uncomfortably, muttering softly under her breath. _A nightmare . . . _I went to her side and saw a cold sweat had broken across her forehead, damping her bangs a little. I shook her shoulder gently, attempting to wake her from it.

"Melody," I called softly. "Melody." She calmed after a little while, then slowly, her eyes fluttered open. "Hey," I said, giving her a small smile.

"Hey . . what are you doing in here?" she asked in a quiet tone.

"Wanted to check on you . ." I replied in a similar tone. "nightmares?" Melody stayed quiet before giving me a slow nod. She moved over, giving me room to sit with her. I sat on the bed, and she moved her head so that it was resting in my lap. I smiled a bit, and gently ran my fingers through her silky, dark hair. Since our last case, both of us have been on edge. _The sinking ship . . . . the Aurora Society . . . . the corpses . . . Hell, that scared me more than I'd like to admit. But Melody . . . I assume it was much worse for her . . . Sebastian told her she was born half-demon . . . .I couldn't imagine what was going through her head right now . . . ._

I looked back down at her to see she had fallen back asleep, a serene smile on her face. I smiled and kissed her head then gently, without waking her, slipped out of her bed. I slipped the covers over her shoulder then went noiselessly back into my room. I went back to bed, sleeping easier knowing that Melody was okay.

Sebastian's POV

"Mey-Rin, hand me the Fortnum and Mason Royal blend!" I ordered, preparing this morning's tea.

"Y-yes, I will." Mey-Rin said, then went over the the shelves of tea leaves but it didn't seem like she could see which ones were which. _I'll have to inform the Young Master she'll need new ones._

"Mr. Sebastian! I picked the herbs!" Finnie said, coming into the kitchen with a basketful of herbs.

"Then please wash them." I responded.

"Okay!" Finnie said cheerfully, beginning washing the herbs. I noticed that the edges of Finnie's straw hat were frayed. _He'll need a new one. _I went up to Ciel's bedroom first and opened the door. I looked at my sleeping master and my eyes widened a bit. _Ah, I suppose today is a "training day" _I decided to let him sleep for a little while longer and went back downstairs into the kitchen.

"Everyone, a change has been made to today's schedule." I announced.

"What is it, Mister Sebastian?" Finnie asked, just finished cleaning the herbs he picked.

"Finnie, Bard, Mey-Rin, Tanaka" I said, each servant I called facing me. "Why don't you show Snake around London for the day?" The servants nodded and left the manor.

Ciel's POV

"I assume today is a "training" day," I commented, noticing the absence of the other servants.

"Yes . . . I've given the others the day off." Sebastian said, serving our breakfast.

"Might I ask why today?" Melody asked, sipping her tea. Sebastian smiled.

"Oh it's quite simple really, My Lady." Sebastian said. "Today . . your true demon forms will reveal themselves." This sparked my interest immediately.

"What will ours be?" I asked.

"Usually, It's the animal who like the least . . Demons are hate-filled creatures, so what better way to hate the world then take the form of something you hate?" Sebastian said then turned toward Melody. "Or in your case, My Lady, it would be a similar form to . . ."

"My father's . . . " Melody continued. "Is each form different?"

"Most of the time yes, but it is possible for the form of two unrelated demons to be very similar." Sebastian explained. Melody gave him a nod in understanding. After breakfast, the three of us went to the empty ballroom. Sebastian drew the curtains shut then turned back toward Melody and I.

"So . . how exactly do we . . change forms?" I asked.

"Just wait . . . ." Sebastian replied. Melody nodded then it was silent for several moments. Then suddenly, I felt really weird. I was hearing things I wasn't meant to, like the sound of Sebastian's heartbeat, even though he was ten feet away. I moved my tongue back, but it felt like sandpaper. Then I heard something weird, like wings slowly flapping. I turned toward Melody and my eyes widened. Her form . . . was a raven. Large, black wings grew from between her shoulder blades. She looked a lot paler, as if she was an apparition. She was smiling at me, revealing sharp, fang-like canines.

"You'll probably be annoyed," Melody said. "But you look absolutely _adorable._"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Your demon form . ." Melody explained. "You're a kitten." My eyes went wide, then felt the top of my head. My hands froze, feeling two triangular ears. I growled, then did _something _with my fingers, causing claws to pierce them. I hissed, and retracted the claws.

"What the hell?!" I said. "Why did I have to be a freaking _cat?_"

"Young Master, weren't you listening?" Sebastian said, "I recalling telling you that your form will most likely be the animal you like the _least._" I growled in annoyance, practically hearing the hearts dripping out of his voice.

"You will not hug me Sebastian," I ordered. "That is an order!" Sebastian's heart dropped but stayed quiet and took a step back.

"I'll leave you to get used to your new forms . . ."Sebastian said, before leaving the room. I turned back toward Melody.

"Do you really hate your form that much?" she asked. I remembered Melody's comment . . . _I guess it isn't that bad . . . At least I'm not allergic to myself . . . ._

"No . . . not really." I said. "I suppose it could be worse." Melody nodded, then brought her new wings forward. _They were huge . . . perhaps fifteen feet from tip to tip, certainly large enough so she could fly . . . I was jealous, I hoped I could fly . . . _She felt the feathers along the edge of the wing and smiled.

"Well, I suppose being a raven isn't that bad either . ." She said.

"What could be bad about being able to fly?" I asked her.

"No, that would actually be really cool." Melody said. "But these things will take time to get used to." Her hand, fingernails now black talons, drifted toward the top of her head and my eyes widened. On either side of her head were shiny, ebony horns that curled back then forwards, ending in a wicked-looking tip. I hadn't even noticed them before now. "They're pretty heavy." she said. I shrugged.

"But still, you look much more threatening than I do." I reminded her. Melody smiled.

"Well looks can be decieving . . . ." Melody said.

"Who would be terrified of a _kitten?_" I asked her, a hint of bitterness in my tone. Melody smiled, but it was very un-Melody like . . .almost devious . . . . She came within inches of my face.

"Cats catch birds, don't they?"

* * *

**_Okay New Chapter! You guys are probably wondering why my last couple of chapters got deleted. _****_The Murder Mystery Arc, the bit I was writing, its a pain in the ass to write. So I decided to not write it up, though it would have happened. _**

**_Oh and I have a huge load of work to do for school so I won't get a whole lot of time to work on the story for a while. But I promise to try to update at least every other week, I will also be adding the final chapter of Nightmares and Daydreams. So, until the next update my lovelies!_**

**_-theangeloffandoms_**


	13. New Forms Part 2

Ciel's POV

_Cats catch birds, don't they?_

"Well, yeah . . " I replied, unsure of how else to respond.

"Then, come and catch me." Melody said. She smiled and backed away from me. I smiled and began to chase her. She ran from me with a squeal of laughter. It was really fun, I felt . . almost like a kid again. She was fast but the wings slowed her down a little. After a while, I caught up to her. . . More like I fell on top of her. She smiled up at me, still laughing. I smiled back at her.

"That was fun . . " I said.

"Yeah . . it was . . its been years . . .since i laughed . . . this much . . " Melody said between breaths, pale cheeks flushed pink. "Hey, I got something to show you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"You'll see, come on." Melody said, grabbing my hand. She lead me out of the ballroom and into the hallway where our bedrooms where. "You know those boxes Ran Mao and Miss Irene found in my bedroom, and I said they were nothing?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Well, they weren't nothing exactly . . there are things in them now, and I want to show you them before I give them to the right people." Melody told me. I gave her a confused look, then she took out four boxes and took of the lids. In the first one, a new pair of glasses like the ones Mey-Rin wears. The second, a brand-new straw hat. The third was box of candy cigarettes. The fourth and finally one had a large bag in it. I gave her a curious look.

"Christmas presents for Mey-Rin, Finnie, Bard, and Snake." Melody explained. "However, I wasn't sure what to get for Bard so I thought the candy cigarettes would be alright. He does need to cut down on his smoking . . . . I thought it would be nice idea for when they come back tomorrow." _oh that's right . . tomorrow is Christmas. _"I even have a little something for Sebastian, but I don't think demons celebrate Christmas." Melody said, breaking my train of thought. I smiled at her, Melody grinned then put the lids back on the boxes.

"I just need to make the labels . . Would you like to help me?" Melody asked, smiling a bit. I smiled back.

"I'd love too."

Sebastian's POV

Later that evening, I found a black box with a few small holes on the sides on my bed with a red bow on it which moved once every so often. I untied the scarlet ribbon and removed the lid. Inside was a black kitten with the brightest sky-blue eyes I had ever seen and a letter. Grinning, I picked up the adorable creature and cuddled it. "Now, who brought you here my fluffy little cutie?" I said, picking up the letter to read it.

_Sebastian,_

_I don't know if demons celebrate Christmas, but I didn't want you to feel left out. Since Ciel had forced you to get rid of your cats so, I thought this little cutie would be the perfect companion._

_With Love,_

_Melody_

I almost wanted to cry, I was so happy. I could just hug her right now . . . Actually, to hell with it!

"Mrow?" my new kitten said, looking at me.

"Sorry, my darling." I said, petting her ears. "I'll be right back." The kitten curled up on to my bed, I smiled at the kitten's cuteness then went to Melody's bedroom. I knocked on her door. "May I come in Melody?" I asked.

"Yes." I heard Melody say from within. I opened the door to see Melody prepared for bed."Oh hey Sebastian, what's up?" she asked.

"I wanted to thank you." I replied.

"What for- oh, you saw my gift? I'm glad you like her." Melody said with a smile. I smiled back at her, then hugged her. I didn't care if I looked suspicious, I was so happy that I didn't care. But what surprised me is that she started to hug me back. "Merry Christmas, Sebastian." she muttered into my ear. I smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Melody." I replied.


	14. The Demon and The Maid

The Phantomhive manor became very peaceful after that Christmas Eve. Months passed, balls were held, deals were made and broken. Life went on. But as February came, the young Earl noticed a small change in the behavior of his love and of his butler. They seemed a bit . . depressed . . in a way. This made Ciel quite worried and he decided to investigate.

Ciel's POV

I found Melody where she usually was at around this time, in the library with her nose in a book. I smiled a bit then went up to her. "Melody, can I talk to you for a moment?" I asked. Melody looked up and nodded, closing her book. "You've been kind of quiet the past few days . . is something wrong?"

"No . . I'm okay, really." Melody said. Unconvinced, I kneeled and crossed my arms in her lap, resting my head on top of my arms. Melody smiled and gently ran her fingers through my hair affectionately.

"You know you can tell me anything right?" I asked.

"Yes I know . . ." Melody replied.

"Then tell me what's wrong, I know you're not okay . ." I said. Melody let out a sigh.

"Do you remember that cottage i showed you once? Back when your memories were tampered with?" Melody asked. I nodded.

"Yeah . . that's where your mother and step-siblings are buried . ." I replied.

"Yeah . . My mother's birthday is the 13th . . I'd like to go visit her . . " Melody said with a bit of sadness in her tone.

"Oh . . . okay . . . Would you want me to come with you . . to keep you company?" I asked. Melody gave me a slow nod. I smiled and kissed her forehead then hugged her. Melody hugged me back, nuzzling her face into my neck. I smiled and hugged her a bit tighter, enjoying the moment.

"How indecent."

We both turned to see my Aunt Frances, also known as the Marchioness Midford, and Elizabeth. Melody forced a smile.

"Lady Midford . . what a surprise . . ." she said with sarcasm in her tone. Aunt Frances narrowed her eyes.

"It is not proper for a young lady to engage in such actions." Aunt Frances said. "And what indecent looks you posses, just like your mother! That long fringe of yours irks me! Kindly learn from Elizabeth!" She then proceeded to comb Melody's hair back, and then proceeded to do the same with me. Melody scowled at her as she did it, then proceeded to return her hair to its normal style.

"I believe I've told you before that I don't care." Melody replied. My Aunt glared at her, which normally scares both me and Sebastian, but Melody simply glared back. She is the only person I have ever seen that could stand up to Aunt Frances. "And I consider it a compliment that I look like my _indecent _mother_._" Aunt Frances scowled at her.

"Why you . ." she began to say, before Sebastian cut her off.

"Marchioness, might I ask why you visited today . . and without warning?" He asked, his hair slicked back, definitely Aunt Frances' doing.

"I wanted to check up on my darling nephew . . . and I see you haven't changed, Melody _Trancy._" Aunt Frances said with a glare. Melody glared back, growling a little.

"Neither have you, Marchioness Midford." Melody replied.

Sebastian's POV

After the Marchioness and Lady Elizabeth left, things went back to just the way they were. Which was very good, considering how badly I wanted to speak out against the her rude comments about Aurora. . . . She was different yes, but never rude . . .

_Flashback_

_I was wandering in the woods in early spring of 1874 when I met her._

_I had just finished a contract, wandering the woods near a bustling village, when I heard someone humming. Curious, I investigated and walked a short distance before I saw a human girl picking flowers. Not quite an adult, perhaps seventeen years old, I thought it would be best if I hid and observed. Her strawberry-blonde hair curled down to her waist, woven with some of the wildflowers she had picked . . bluebells I believe. She was pale-faced and had emerald-green eyes . . . She has such beauty that would put the most desired demonesses to shame. She wore a simple white dress, making her appear as if she was a beautiful forest nymph. I decided to show myself. "May I join you, miss?" I asked hesitantly. The girl seemed surprised by my voice which i expected, and turned to look at me._

"_Oh, you scared me." she replied. "And yes, you may." I nodded and sat with her. "My name is Aurora, by the way." she said. I smiled._

"_What a lovely name." I said. Aurora smiled a little._

"_So, stranger, what brings you all the way out here?" she asked, curious. I shrugged._

"_I wanted to take a walk and enjoy nature." I replied. Aurora nodded at my response. "What are you doing out here, besides picking flowers?" She shrugged._

"_Just wanted to get away from people . ." she said. "It's nice and quiet out here." I nodded._

"_That it is . ." I replied._

"_I should probably get back . . My family will get worried if i stay out too long." she said, standing up. A bit disappointed, I nodded._

"_It was lovely speaking with you, Aurora." I said._

"_Same to you, stranger." she replied with a small smile. "I hope we meet again." With that, she turned and went to the village I had seen on my journey into the forest. I watched her leave, a smile growing on my face. Something about this girl . . . It caused my small black heart to skip a beat. . . Only one thought came to my mind . . . Did that really just happen?_

_As spring turned into summer, we continued to meet in the same spot. I would be waiting for her to come and we would talk for a little while, then by sunset she would have to go back . . Each time i wished she could stay just a bit longer . . . . But one meeting always stood out in my mind._

"_Hey Sebastian!" she called one afternoon in early June. I turned and smiled at her._

"_Aurora . . how are you?" I asked. She smiled._

"_Perfectly grand," she replied. "And you?"_

"_I've been good" I said. She nodded._

"_Excellent . ." Aurora replied, then sighed. "I enjoy our meetings . . You aren't annoying and self-obsessed like the other men I have met." _

"_As do I," I said. "You're very . .different from women I've met on my travels." _

"_I'll take that as a compliment." she said, smiling. I smiled back at her. _

"_You have the most beautiful smile," I commented. Aurora blushed a little._

"_So do you," she replied then looked into my eyes and got a strange look on her face. "Your eyes are so much older than your face . . . You've seen blood and death and destruction . . ." I was a bit surprised but nodded._

"_I have . . some more unpleasant than the last . . ." I replied. "and one most depressing . . ." Aurora frowned a little, then hugged me. I was surprised by her sudden action but I liked it. I hesitantly hugged her back, burying my face into her sweet-smelling hair. We stayed like that for a while untill she pulled away._

"_Sorry . . but it looked like you needed it." she explained. _

"_I-it's alright . ." I replied. "It felt nice . . ." Aurora smiled and nodded. I smiled back and held her cheek, then leaned in and kissed her gently. Aurora seemed surprised but began to kiss me back, holding my face in her hands. In all my long years, this is the first time . . I felt truly at bliss . . . Now I know why my brother enjoyed kissing his mate so much . . I pulled away after a while, slightly breathless. Aurora was also a little breathless, grinning. _

"_Damn . . that was . ." she said. "Amazing . ." I laughed._

"_My, that's very vulgar words for a lady." I said, still smiling. Aurora smirked and I laughed at her expression. Aurora laughed as well. . . . ._

_I looked forward to our meetings more than ever now. I hoped it would stay like this forever . . But It didn't. A month later, Aurora came to me, crying._

"_Aurora . . Aurora what's the matter?" I asked, worried. She tried to calm herself, but she couldn't stop. I held her, rubbing her back. "It's alright, my love . . .shhh . ." I said, trying to calm her down. She buried her face into my shirt, still sobbing a little. When she eventually calmed, I tried speaking to her again. "What's the matter, my love?" I asked. "Why are you so upset?". Aurora looked at me, tears still in her eyes._

"_Lord Trancy . . He wants my hand . . . I said no . . . .but he gave my parents a load of money . . . they agreed." she explained in a shaky voice. "He is a cruel man . . . He killed his wife . . . beat her to death . . . ." then buried her face in my shirt again. I was shocked, then got very angry. How dare they?! Their only daughter! But this wasn't a time to get angry. . . .I picked her chin up to look her in the eyes._

"_You will be safe, my love. . . I'll make sure of it . . . ." I told her, petting her hair. She nodded then rubbed the tears out of her eyes._

"_I have faith in you, love." she said._

_Within that month, Lord Trancy carried my love away and married her that August. I came to the manor as a butler, and was hired. I kept Aurora safe from his abuse, but It didn't always work. She got hurt . . . I healed her but it made me angry seeing her with all the bruises and cuts on her delicate body . . . But she was happy that I was there . . . she adored his children like she was they're her own children, a four year old girl named Isabella and a infant boy named Alois. Life continued like that until one evening in mid-December. _

_Aurora sat in a armchair in the library, twirling a strand of her hair. She did that when she was nervous . . but what could she be nervous about?_

"_Is everything alright, love?" I asked. She looked up._

"_There's something i need to tell you . ." she said._

"_What is it?" I asked. She stood up and walked to me and took my hands into hers. That's when I heard it . . A second heartbeat . . from within Aurora. I went a little wide-eyed._

"_You're pregnant . ." I muttered. Aurora nodded slowly._

"_The child . . the child is yours." She muttered. The Child is mine . . . The Child is mine . . . I sat down in an armchair, that same phrase repeating itself in my head._

"_A-are you okay Sebastian?" Aurora asked, a worried look on her face._

"_I-I'm okay . ." I told her, "It's just a lot to take in." I smiled and went to her. I hugged her then kissed her. Aurora kissed me back, holding my face. After a while, I broke away still smiling. Aurora smiled back at me. "I-I'm going to be a father . ." I said, then frowned. " He can't know its mine . . .I don't want him to hurt you or our child . . " Aurora nodded._

"_I know that . ." she said, "He'll think its his . . He's so drunk most of the time, I doubt he'll think any differently." I smiled and pressed my forehead to hers._

_Eight months later, our child came into the world . . . . A little girl with emerald green eyes and raven-black hair . . . Our little Melody . . . I watched her grow . . take her first steps . . speak her first words . . . But she didn't know . . she still doesn't know I'm her father . . . . _

_One day . . I will tell you the truth . . . I swear . . . ._


	15. School is Now in Session

Ciel's POV

_Damn it! We're going to be late!_

With one biscuit each and a few books under our arms, we raced to the gate. "Please wait!" I called to the two students closing the gates. We raced in and made it just in time.

"We made it." Melody said, breathing heavily. I looked up to see the school before us. _Weston College . . . The school was established near the Thames, Britain's finest public school. The vast premises contain the complex school building. A magnificent gothic-style church and four historical student dormitories. The student are under strict displine that values tradition above all and are raised to be the new gentlemen of England through a boys-only dorm life and their individual high-level educational curriculum. The nobles sent their sons to the school without regard for the extremely high fees, just to obtain that glimmering status. No matter what, first impressions are vital . .I have to keep it together._

"Hey you!"

Melody and I turned to see a group of four older students, some in the surrounding area calling them the P4. One of them, taller than both me and Melody with long blond hair that was tied back with a red ribbon, red-orange eyes, and a red rose tucked into his jacket pocket. He gave Melody a strange look then quickly went up to her. _Oh shit._

"Your tie was crooked." He explained, straining her tie.

"O-oh thank you." she said a bit nervously.

"What are your names? I haven't seen you around." The boy asked.

"It's Trancy." Melody replied.

"Phantomhive." I told him.

"Never heard of them." the boy commented.

"That's right," said another. The one who had spoken had slicked back blonde hair, dark green eyes, and a green leaf tucked into his jacket pocket. "I heard from the principal that there would be two new students joining the Blue House today . . Is that you two?"

"Yes," Melody replied. The boy with the red rose tapped Melody on the forehead.

"Look out from now on, Trancy." he said, then he and the rest of the P4 walked away. Melody let out a sigh.

"Nearly gave me a heart attack," Melody muttered, straightening her circular glasses. "Let's head to class before we are late." I nodded and followed her.

* * *

"Is this necessary?" Melody said to Sebastian a few days before.

"I'm afraid it is, My Lady. You did say you wanted to investigate the school with the Young Master." Melody let out a sigh.

"Yeah I know, remind me why we are going." She asked, turning to me.

"A few students at the Weston College are refusing to go home, so Her Majesty wants us to find out why." I explained. "Public schools are independent institutions that refuse government intervention, though it's more likely that they don't want to make matters worse and let everyone know about their private affairs. Since everyone would practically know everyone, we would have to go in personally."

"Ah yeah, that's right." Melody replied. "That why Her Majesty wanted Alois's death to remain a secret . . In case something like this came up and I can use his identity . . . Okay, just do it quickly . ."

"Yes, My Lady." Sebastian replied, then pulled out a pair of large silver scissors. Melody closed her eyes as Sebastian snipped off almost a foot of her long wavy hair, so that the ends reached an inch below her ears. When he had finished, Melody rubbed the back of her head.

"It feels so weird . . . My hair hasn't been this short in years . ." she commented.

"Well, you'll have to pass as a male in order to investigate the school, My Lady." Sebastian reminded her. Melody let out a sigh.

Melody's POV

In the last class, Ciel and I sat near each other and talked in hushed tones so the others didn't hear us. Because girls aren't allowed into this school, I had to attend as boy. Thankfully, Sebastian taught me to change my form, so I was able to blend in better by changing genders instead of binding my chest (which I did not want to do). However I still looked a bit more feminine than I would have wanted.

"BOY UP!" One of the upperclassmen from the Sapphire Owl dormitory said. Everyone got to their feet, including me and Ciel. He went to us and gave us both a piece of paper.

"Return to the dorm once you two have finished polishing all of the prefects' shoes, we'll be having your welcome party." he replied, pushing up his rectangular shaped glasses up the bridge of his nose.

_They really didn't have to throw a welcome party_ I thought as i opened the door to the Sapphire Owl dormitory. Someone covered my mouth as I walked in. I panicked and tried to fight whoever it was off.

"Congratulations, Trancy and Phantomhive." said the older student from earlier. "We're holding this welcome party just for you! I hope you enjoy it to the fullest" I was thrown back onto a sheet, which some of the others were holding. I was tossed up into the air, flailing a little at the sudden action.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ciel asked in a panic as they tossed me up into the air again.

"It's our dorm's traditional welcome party," the older student explained. " I'll expect both of you to work even harder at your studies from now on, as members of the Sapphire Owl dormitory." I Was tossed up once again, each higher than the last.

"What is it with all the racket!"

"Oh no, it's the Dorm advisor." the guys throwing me up into the air said.

"Aah!" I exclaimed as I landed on the hard stone floor with a thump. Damn it, that hurt!

"Clayton. Why are you, as an upperclassman, participating in this?" the dorm advisor asked. I hadn't seen his face but his voice was very familiar . .

"That's . . this is the tradition of our dorm . . ." the older student, Clayton said, turning to face the dorm advisor.

"Goodness, there's tradition and there's overdoing it." he said, helping me up. "You're one of the new students, right?"

"Yes, sir." I replied, getting to my feet. "Trancy"

"Welcome to the Sapphire Owl Dormitory. I am the Dorm Advisor, Michaelis." he said. I looked up to see none other than the demon butler, Sebastian Michaelis.

_School is now in Session_


	16. A Plan Begins to Form

_The prestigious public school, Weston College, attended by the sons of England's nobles. Melody and Ciel have infiltrated the school, where tradition and discipline reign, in order to investigate a certain problem. This problem concerns not only Derek Clemens, , the son of the Duke Clemens who is the Queen's cousin . . . but also various other students who have not returned home for quite some time now. Weston College is a closed off space that tolerates nothing . Not even government intervention. Just what is going on here?_

* * *

After that first day, they were called to the Principal's office. When the two teens opened the door, the four prefects were waiting for them.

"It's been a day since you have arrived, Phantomhive and Trancy. How are you feeling?" the prefect from the Green House asked.

"Feel free to come to Red House if you can't get used to the Blue House." the perfect from the Red House said, offering his hand to them. "We'd welcome anyone of your statuses anytime."

"Only the principal can decide one's dormitory," the perfect from the Blue House reminded, pushing his rectangular glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No exceptions."

"The dormitories are all the same though." the prefect from the Purple House said.

"This is a high-class public school protected by tradition and discipline. From the moment you enter, you have to obey the rules." said a fifth voice from the chair. "Normally the principal would give you two the welcome speech, but since he is busy . . I'll be representing him. I am the Vice Principal, Johan Agares." The Vice Principal turned around to reveal himself as a tall man with dark, messy hair. He wore a scholar hat on his head, dressed in a long robe and a white button-up shirt underneath with a small scarf wrapped around his neck and white gloves.

"The Principal decides all matters within the school." the Green House prefect said.

"Theses decisions are absolute." the Red House prefect said.

"And we, the prefects, have been chosen by the principal to govern the school." the Blue House prefect continued.

"A rather unpleasant job in which we have to subdue all trouble." the Purple House prefect said.

"This has been the our tradition since the school's founding, and" the Vice Principal said.

"Tradition is absolute!" the four prefects said at the same time.

"Do you swear to keep the rules of our school, and obey our tradition and discipline?" the Vice Principal asked.

"I do." Ciel replied.

"I do." Melody replied.

The Vice Principal then fell forward and landed on his head, then got up like nothing had happened. A stream of blood flowed down onto his face as he opened the book under his arm, the student registry. "Sign here." The Vice Principal said. They nodded and signed. Ciel signed under his own name and Melody signed Alois's name. "Welcome to Weston College, Phantomhive and Trancy. I welcome you." he said. Melody and Ciel looked at each other then each shook the Vice Principal's hand. The four prefects clapped then began to leave.

"Well then, may you have a pleasant life at the school." the Red House prefect said as he exited the room.

"Hey, wait!" Ciel called, getting the prefects attention. "when can we meet the Principal?"

"The Principal is very busy and does not meet with regular students," The Blue House prefect replied. "The only ones who could have meetings with the school principal is us prefects."

_Regular students can't meet the Principal? _Melody thought.

_So the Principal is like an absolute monarch. _Ciel thought.

* * *

_A public school is a place where boys aged 14 to 19 live together in dormitories while focusing on studies. The students' lives are controlled by the ringing of the bell. And so another day begins at public school._

_Rising at 6:30, Early Morning Tea at 7:00, Class begins at 7:30, and Breakfast at 9:00_

* * *

Ciel's POV

"A fag?" I asked.

"When Breakfast is over, It's "Fag time"! " a student Melody and I befriended, McMillan, explained. McMillan is a small boy with freckles along the bridge of his nose with wavy hair and small round glasses. "It's one of Weston's characteristic traditions, where the lower years have to help out one of the upper years."

"Help out?" Melody said.

"Like cleaning their rooms or ironing their uniforms and preparing hot water bottles at night." he replied.

"In other words, acting like their butler." I commented. _Another annoying tradition. _

"Do prefects have fags too?" Melody asked McMillan.

"Of course! Bluer, the prefect of the Blue House, has Clayton as his fag." McMillan said. Clayton is the older student who through the "Welcome party".

"A fag is a little different from a butler in that the upper year will help out their fag sometimes as well. It's kind of like having a brother within the school." McMillan explained.

"A brother?" Melody said.

"Yep! And the fags for the prefects are kind of special. They can wear their dormitory flower on their chests, just like the P4. And if you can get permission, you can cross the lawn. and . ." McMillan said, leaning in. "I've heard you can attend the Midnight Tea Party organized by the principal." I looked at Melody and knew we were sharing the same thought.

_A midnight tea party organized by the Principal, If we could attend, we could meet the Principal. But access is granted only by the P4 and their fags. _Melody took my hand underneath the table and tapped "_Let's ask about the students who don't want to go home." _I nodded.

"Trancy, there is a letter for you." a man said, handing Melody a letter with a crest on it.

"O-oh thank you." Melody replied, then opened the letter and read it. Her eyes went wide and she began to shake a little.

"What's wrong?" I asked, noticing her shaking.

"N-Nothing . ." Melody said, stuffing the letter into her pocket.

"This is a change of topic, but do you know the son of the Duke Clemens, Derek Arden?" I asked. Then, students began to whisper around us. I heard one say Derek was a student of the Scarlet Fox dormitory.

"P-Phantomhive!" McMillan said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It doesn't look good if you're friendly with people from the other dormitories!" McMillan said in a nervously.

"That sounds like the trivial rivalry of women," Melody said annoyed, take a bite out of a biscuit.

"The rivaling dormitories are always competing over something." McMillan replied. "However, I heard that student was transferred from Red House to Purple House on exception."

"Transferred?" Melody asked.

"I don't know the details, but the rumor is that the principal ordered it." McMillan say in a hushed voice. "A-anyway it's best not to stick your nose into other dormitories business, especially Violet Wolf."

"What do you mean?" Melody and I said at the same time. Before McMillan could reply, his upper year called for him and he left.

"Phantomhive! Trancy!" someone barked. We jumped to our feet and turned to see Clayton.

"Until you two have been assigned to an upper year, you're on cleaning duty for the dining hall." Clayton said.

"All . . of this?" I said, seeing the messy dining hall.

"That's right, And don't slack off!" Clayton said, then left. I was bout to call Sebastian to do it for us when Melody stopped me.

"I got this." she said.

"You sure?" I asked. Melody nodded.

"Derek should be at his dorm right now, you check it out. I'll clean up here." Melody said. I nodded and left her to clean.

When Ciel came back after be pelted by rocks from the Purple House's students, there was a large crowd of students in front of the Blue House's mess hall. "Phantomhive!" Clayton said,grabbing Ciel by the shoulders. "I don't easily praise anyone . . .But just for today, Ill grant you and Trancy praise."

"What?" Ciel said, then looked inside to see the dining hall to see that it looked brand new. Melody was setting the last glass onto the table. She seemed exhausted but she was still smiling.

"Our old . . eh traditional dormitory dining hall looks completely brand new!" Clayton praised. "Well done!"

"Actually, this was more Trancy's doing then mine." I confessed. "If anything, you should praise him."

"I see . . . Ah Mr. Michaelis!" Clayton said, turning to Sebastian, who was walking into the room. He seemed surprised by the dining hall's new look.

"Look at the Dining Hall, Trancy and Phantomhive cleaned it up!" Clayton said, patting Melody and I on the shoulder.

"My, My." Sebastian said. "Thank you both for your hard work."

"It was our pleasure, Mr. Michaelis." Melody replied in a tired voice then turned to Clayton. "I'm actually very good with housework. If you need me to do anything else, please just ask." Melody smiled sweetly at Clayton. _Why is she kissing up to him? . . . Oh . . Oh you brilliant girl!. . . . Getting closer to the prefects by starting with Bluer's fag! _

Sebastian's POV

Later that evening, I found Melody re-reading a letter in my office. "My Lady, who is that from?" I asked.

"M-my mother's parents . ." Melody said, shaking a little. "They want to see her . . " I was completely shocked. _Those damn idiots! After nearly fifteen years?! _"What should I do, Sebastian?" Melody asked, pulling me out of my angry daze.

"May I read it?" I asked. Melody nodded and gave the letter to me.

_Our dearest Aurora,_

_We know you never want to speak with us again, but we miss you. Me and your father have sent countless letters over the past fifteen years and I understand why you haven't answered, but you should know this._

_We're very old Aurora, it's likely neither me or your father will last much longer. We're coming back to Great Britain to see you, so we can atone for our greatest regret._

_With Love,_

_your mother Cassandra_

"Cassandra and Lysander Miller." Melody said when I finished reading the letter. "Successful business owners in America . . originally a poor famer and seamstress . . . They're coming across in a boat to see my mother . . . They'll be here in a month . . . what should I do, Sebastian?" She looked up at me.

"I don't know, My Lady."


	17. The Invitation

Sebastian's POV

_The warden is a teacher who lives in in the public school's dormitory and guides the students. Besides the warden, the four dormitories of weston also employ a few other workers. The lady who is in charge of taking care of the dormitory, the cook who prepares the meals, the footman that serves the tables. However, the dormitory warden is the only one who is also a teacher. In the morning, he goes to the school with the students and teaches his subject. At night, he returns to the dormitory with the students and during his free time, he helps the ones who ask for help with their homework. _

_In other words, the warden is an onerous job, since it requires dedicating most of the day to the students. _

"It must be hard for you, with all the requests you get." McMillan said to Melody as I opened the door to the classroom. "For me, it takes the whole fag time just to fix a button. He's asking too much of you, with the excuse that he still hasn't chosen a fag."

"It's not that bad . ." Melody replied.

"You are really amazing though" McMillan said, "You and Phantomhive even got a great score on the last test!"

"Well, we were well prepared." Melody replied.

"Everyone is wondering which senior will get you as his fag. I guess someone might make a request soon." McMillan said, then muttered. "Personally, I think it might be Clayton." Melody smiled.

"I'd be honored." she said, smiling sweetly. _Just like a proper demoness . . . enticing your prey with sweet words . . or in this case, actions and words . . . skillfully to hide your true power . . sweetly . . quietly . . . I'm so proud of you, my darling girl._

"The lesson is about to start." I said, walking to the front of the room

In the Swan Gazebo, where the Prefects and their fags would meet, they were quietly lounging while the fags served them.

"Would you like more tea, Redmond?" one asked.

"Yes, why not?" Redmond, the Red House Prefect said. "Your tea is the best, Maurice." Maurice smiled.

"Thank you." he replied.

"By the way, I heard that new student . .Trancy . . is quite capable." the Green House Prefect commented.

"Ah yes . ." Redmond said, "that cutie pie in Lawrence's dorm. I'm curious too."

"Stop calling me by my first name, It's against the rules." Bluer, the Blue House Prefect said, looking up from his book. Redmond laughed.

"Oh, you're so strict Bluer!" Redmond said. "Only prefects can come in here, so no one is going to punish us. Clayton, what do you think of the boy?"

"He's extremely skilled. He works fast and carefully." Clayton replied. "Actually the tea and snacks I asked him to prepare look like something made by a French Chef."

"Wasn't he an Earl? How come he can do something like that?" the Green House prefect asked in disbelief.

"An Earl that works like a butler . ." the Purple House's Prefect's fag said.

"Hmm . . Quite the weirdo." The Purple House Prefect commented.

"Well, if he's that good, I wish he had come to my dorm." Redmond said, "His rank is high enough, He's the head of a famous household, after all."

"Greenhill, can i speak?" the Green House Prefect, Greenhill's fag asked.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! SAY IT LOUDER!" Greenhill shouted.

"YES SIR! DO YOU ALLOW ME TO SPEAK!" Greenhill's fag shouted back.

"How annoying," Bluer muttered.

"I ALLOW YOU TO SPEAK, EDWARD MIDFORD!" Greenhill shouted.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Edward, Greenhill's fag, shouted then spoke normally. "You said this new student's name was "Alois Trancy"?"

"What do you know him?" Redmond asked.

"Yes, . . Alois is Lizzie's . . my younger sister . . best friend's step-brother . ." Edward stated. "I had no idea he had entered this school."

"Rich boys from all over England come here, it's not that surprising." the Purple House Prefect's fag commented.

"Well the thing is . . I met him a few times, and he's a brat. It doesn't seem like we are talking about the same person here." Edward said.

"Oh really? We'll I'd like to invite him here to talk." Redmond said. "I'm tired of the dull faces I see everyday, I'm sure you're all curious of his acclaimed tea and snacks too."

"I didn't know him," Maurice said "He sure sounds interesting!"

The other prefects agreed to Redmond's idea and decided on when to call him.

"Good things should be done quickly, I'll go tell him myself!" Maurice said. "Tomorrow at two pm, right?"

"Actually, Edward, why don't you go?" Redmond said, "I'm sure he would feel less overwhelmed if it came from you."

"I agree, the boy seems a bit skittish . ." Clayton commented.

"Alright," Edward said, then left to give the message.

Melody's POV

"Trancy! I want a word with you!" I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to see Edward, and I paled a little. _Oh, no._

"C-coming," I replied, leaving the classroom. Edward saw my face and went wide-eyed then took me by the wrist and went into the empty hallway.

"Melody? What are you doing here?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you'll get into!?" he muttered.

"Edward let me explain," I muttered. "Ciel and I are on a Mission for the Queen. I had to use Alois's identity to get in. I can't really tell you anymore than that." Edward seemed surprised then let out a sigh.

"Alright, you're secret is safe with me . ." he muttered. "Anyway, the P4 invited you to come to the Swan Gazebo tomorrow at two. Don't screw it up."

"Got it, and I wasn't going to . . . I'm not as dimwitted as you think I am" I replied. Edward smirked and ruffled my hair affectionately then left. Edward and I had an odd relationship. More often than not, he treats me as if I was Elizabeth. Only I irritate him more, but at least i never tried to put bows in his hair like Elizabeth did. When I went back into the classroom, I was surrounded by students.

"That's wonderful, Trancy!" one student said.

"Aww, I want to go too!" another said.

"Only the P4 can go into the Swan Gazebo!" another said.

"Tell us about it afterwards, okay?" someone else asked. Then I felt someone pull me out of the crowd by the hand into the seemingly empty hallway, I turned to see it was Ciel.

"Thanks . ." i breathed.

"No problem . ." he said, then quickly kissed my cheek.

"Ciel!" I muttered under my breath, blushing a little.

"What?" he said, smiling innocently.

"Not here! Someone might see!" I muttered again. Ciel pouted a little, and I let out a sigh. "You're an idiot." Ciel smiled

"But I'm your idiot." he replied.

"True," I replied. He smiled and laughed. I smirked, then saw something move out of the corner of my eye, like the flutter of a coat.

"What are you looking at?" Ciel asked, turning to where I was looking.

"Nothing, just thought I saw something . . ." I said.

Ciel's POV

"You seem popular, _Professor _Michaelis." I said, coming into my butler's study with Melody behind me.

"Yes," Sebastian said with a small smile. "Everyone is praising the way I explain and my kindness."

"I'd really like to show them your real training method." I said, taking off my coat and sitting down in a chair.

"I was invited to meet with the P4 tomorrow at two." Melody said, sitting next to me. I smiled widely at her.

"Excellent, this is a golden chance." I commented. Melody smiled a little.

"Yes . .but there is something else . . Edward reconzied me." My smile dropped.

"What did he do?" I asked grimly.

"I told him we were on a mission for the Queen and nothing more. He seemed satisfied with that." Melody explained, then sighed. "He shouldn't be too much of an issue." I nodded and left the room.

Melody's POV

Before I went to bed, I realized I left my school jacket in Sebastian's study. Quickly but quietly, i snuck in and the sight before me came to quite a shock. Sebastian was looking out the window and had tears going down his face and muttered a name, _Balam. _Confused, I quietly went up to him.

"Are you alright, Sebastian?" I asked. Sebastian's eyes widened a bit then turned to me.

"O-oh My Lady, I didn't hear you come in." he replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Are you alright?" I repeated.

"Y-yes I'm fine." he said, trying to give me a reassuring smile. But I knew he was lying.

"Doesn't seem like it . . ."I commented. "Who's Balam?" Sebastian seemed surprised by my question, but still answered.

"My eldest brother . ." he replied with a sad tone. I knew by the look in his eyes that Balam was dead and has been for quite a while. I felt sorry for him. Without a second thought, i hugged him. Sebastian seemed surprised by it, but hugged me back.

"I'm sorry about Balam . . ." I muttered.

"It's alright, My Lady. You don't have to be sorry." Sebastian replied.

"Well I do . . ." i replied. "It hurts losing someone so close to you . . ." Sebastian gave me a silent nod and hugged me a little tighter.

_I have known Sebastian for almost two years now, and I guess in that time . . . I'm not sure what the feeling is exactly, but I feel a bond with him. It's probably very strange to feel a bond with a demon that wasn't a contract, but then again I am the product of a demon and a human woman. . . . Whoever that demon was . . . . If I ever do meet him . . . . I don't think he could ever be a father to me like Sebastian is._


	18. The Swan Gazebo

Melody's POV

_Just Relax . . . You'll be fine . . . _

I walked up to the Swan Gazebo with a basket filled with tea-cakes, which I made myself and quite good if I might add, and a pot of tea about five minutes before I was meant to come. Just in case something would happen on my way there. I looked to see all four prefects, along with their fags, waiting for me.

"Ah, Trancy. Right on time, as always." Clayton said with a slight smile.

"Thank you all for inviting me here," I said, bowing slightly.

"How polite, And you said he was a brat Midford." Redmond commented.

"I must have been mistaken him for his younger sister." Edward replied. I gave him a slight look of annoyance.

"Oh she's not a brat. At least she didn't try to put bows in your hair like Elizabeth had." I replied with a small smirk. Redmond, Greenhill, and Bluer laughed. Even Violet gave a small smile.

"Oh that's rich! I would have loved to see that!" Redmond said. "Can you pass the tea and cakes of yours around? Clayton and Bluer say they're fantastic."

"I'd be delighted to." I replied. serving the tea-cakes and pouring tea for each of them. Each prefect took a sip of the tea and a bite of the cakes. I could tell by the smiles on their faces that they enjoyed them.

"Ah! Even better than I thought! How'd you learn to cook so well?" Redmond asked. The other prefects nodded.

"O-oh, well I used to watch my butler cook when I was small. I guess I picked up a thing or two." I lied. They nodded in response.

"Actually, I have a question for you Trancy." Redmond's fag said. "Midford told us you were fair-haired, like your mother, but your hair is black. Mind explaining that?"

"Actually, it's a pretty embarrassing story." I lied, rubbing the back of my head. "I had gotten shoe-polish in my hair a little while back and no one couldn't get it out. So I had my hair dyed black so I didn't look silly." They laughed in response, including Redmond's and Violet's fags.

"Oh that is embarrassing, but I think you look even cuter with black hair. It brings out that cute little pale face of yours." Redmond commented. I blushed a little unintentionally. "You know, we're actually related." Redmond commented.

"Pardon?" I replied, not knowing about this.

"Seriously?" Redmond's fag said.

"Yes." Redmond said. "Aleister Chambers, my uncle, is your cousin. You didn't know?" I shook my head. _Lovely . . ._

"No, my father's side of the family is a mystery to me actually." I replied, which was true. "They didn't approve of his second marriage."

"Ah, that's right . . . Which is why you and I have never met." Redmond replied.

"Oh? Why?" Greenhill asked.

"His stepmother isn't of noble blood . . . a commoner his father picked up in a village near his home, isn't that right Trancy?" Bluer asked.

"Yes, that is correct." I replied.

"I see . . ." Redmond's fag said. "I bet she's lovely."

"Yeah, she was . . ." I replied, a bit sadly which i guessed the others noticed.

"Oh . . .I'm so sorry Trancy . . " Redmond replied.

"It's alright . ." I replied. Even though it wasn't my intent, I could see them slowly growing fond of me with their pity looks when they found out about my mother.

"And then your father died of an infection two years later . . . how tragic . . " Redmond thought aloud. I nodded slowly, appearing to be a bit sad but I wasn't. That bastard Lord Trancy can burn in Hell for all I care.

"Well, you're welcome to come again Trancy." Redmond said, the others nodding in agreement.

"Really?" I said with a hopefully tone.

"Absolutely, you're a joy to have around. I've grown fond of your adorable face." Redmond replied. I smiled. _This is excellent!_

Ciel's POV

Sebastian and I were waiting for Melody to return when we heard her humming. It must have gone very well, for she hums when she's happy. I smiled.

"I see it went well, My Lady." Sebastian commented after Melody walked into Sebastian's study.

"Very well, Sebastian." Melody replied, putting the basket down. "They have become fond of me." I smiled.

"Excellent. You are becoming a true demoness, my Lady." Sebastian replied. Melody smiled widely with pride.

"Oh I almost forgot, I noticed something odd about Redmond's fag, Maurice Cole." Melody said.

"Huh?" Sebastian and I replied.

"His hands to be precise. The school's fags have rough hands from doing the upperclassmen chores." Melody explained. "But his are pearly white . . ."

"You think he's using dirty methods?" Sebastian asked.

"Exactly." Melody replied. "There's mostly likely students he has deceived into doing his work for him. I doubt it will not take long to prove my theory."

"Sebastian, find students deceived by Maurice Cole and track his activity pattern." I ordered.

"As you wish." Sebastian replied.

The following day, the school was buzzing with the events that took place at the Swan Gazebo.

"Did you hear? Trancy got invited again to the Swan Gazebo!" one student said to another.

"He's so lucky!" his friend said. _The P4 had a lot more influence than I thought . . . It's a good thing Melody was able to charm them._

"_You really are brilliant" _I tapped. Melody smiled.

"_Why thank you . . It won't be long before an invite to the midnight tea party is in our grasp." _she tapped back.

"There were four other students that have fallen victim to Maurice Cole." Sebastian read off the list of notes he gathered. "There's also a good chance that he leaves all his fag work to others."

"I knew it." Melody commented, seeming a bit more tired than usual.

"For example, it takes several hours for a souffle glace to cool. It's impossible for him to make using only his fag time and no help from others." Sebastian continued.

"I'd like another pawn in the Red House, since Maurice is in there and that was Derek's dormitory." I said.

"There may be someone we can use . . . but you won't like it." Melody said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Prince Soma? He meets all the requirements . . . and he is a special case." Melody replied. Sebastian and I went wide-eyed.

"I don't want to call _him_, but i'm afraid you're right." I replied. Melody nodded.

Later that evening, McMillan called me over while everyone else was asleep. "Hey Phantomhive, there's something I have to tell you." McMillan muttered a bit nervously.

"What is it?" I muttered, not wanting to wake Melody who was sleeping in the bed next to mine.

"Are you and Trancy . . . together?" McMillan asked.

"Pardon?" I muttered, confused. McMillan played with his hands nervously.

"You know . . as in . . . _romantically."_ he muttered. This completely shocked me. _Why would he think that? Both me and Melody have avoided acting like we normally do around each other so no one would suspect it. But shit this isn't good! My family name would be ruined if someone discovered I wasn't heterosexual . . . which I am. _"I'll keep it a secret but you and Trancy have to be careful from now on . . . Others won't be as understanding as I am." McMillan said.

"Thanks McMillan." I said. "May I ask how you knew about this?"

"Oh uh . . " McMillan said, blushing. "I saw you kiss his cheek . . . . and he called you by your first name, saying something like someone might see." I nodded then McMillan went back to bed. I let out a sigh and went back to bed, then turned my head to Melody. She was sleeping peacefully, curled up like a cat, looking very adorable. I smiled wider at her cuteness then slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	19. Prince Soma Comes to Weston College

The arrival of Prince Soma came with the sound of trumpets and loud stomping. When Ciel and Melody went to investigate, they saw that Prince Soma arrived to the school on a living elephant and several servants, just like a circus.

"Well he got into the Red House just fine." Melody commented, slightly annoyed by Prince Soma's extravagant arrival.

"I guess the brand and wealth of Indian royalty is the real deal." Ciel continued, also annoyed.

"But I naturally didn't expect him to come to school on a elephant." Sebastian said. Somehow, in the middle of the large crowd of students, the Indian prince spotted the young Earl.

"Heeeyyyy! Ciel! I'm here!" he shouted from the top of his elephant. Seeing that neither Ciel or Melody were listening, he clapped his hands. His pet elephant suddenly grabbed Melody around the waist and lifter her into the air. Prince Soma was about to say he grabbed the wrong person when he took a closer look and went wide-eyed.

"Not. One Word." Melody muttered, giving Prince Soma a dangerous look. Prince Soma gulped and nodded then his elephant put Melody into the carriage with him on top of the elephants back.

"Melody, why are you dressed like that?"Prince Soma asked. Melody let out a sigh.

"Look, it was the only way i could get in. Girls aren't allowed to go to this school. It's top secret, which you have to keep. Do you understand me?"she explained. Prince Soma nodded.

"Understood . . Now why did you and Ciel call me here?" Prince Soma asked.

"Maurice Cole," Melody said. "The Red House . . the dormitory you are going to . . prefect's fag. . . I would like to get acquainted with him but the other dormitories don't get along very well" then gave him a sweet smile. "Ciel and I don't have many friends . . It would be nice to see a friendly face or two." At this, Prince Soma melted and hugged her tightly.

"Aww! its okay, you're my best frien- no my chhoto bon! (Bengali for little sister)" Prince Soma said, hugging her tight. "Leave everything to me."

"I'm counting on you." Melody said, with a slightly forced smile.

Melody's POV

The next morning, Prince Soma came into the chapel were me, Ciel, and Sebastian were waiting for him. He reported that Maurice Cole sends flower-shaped cards to the students in his dormitory, lots of them. This was solid proof we could use against Cole and finally put him in his place.

"Thank you, you were a great help." I said, smiling sweetly at Prince Soma. Prince Soma smiled and hugged her tight, which Ciel immediately didn't like.

"Aww you're welcome!" Prince Soma said. "Anything for my dear chhoto bon!" _Chhoto bon?_ Prince Soma then gave us another smile before going back to his dormitory.

"Let's plan our strategy." I said, turning to Ciel and Sebastian. "We'll settle this matter tomorrow." Sebastian quietly chuckled.

"Yes, My Lady." he replied.

"So, what do you want?" Maurice asked when I asked him to meet me in the third art room. "Why did you call me here? I have to go to the Swan Gazebo."

"This won't take much of your time, Cole." I replied, then revealed everything he did. From the mistaken invites to four other students at the Swan Gazebo, to the notes written to the other students in his dormitory and tricking them into doing his work for him. "You are a prefect's fag," Melody said after explaining. "Yet you look down on the weak . . .That is cruel and unfair . . you make other's do you're fag work . . .collecting data, ironing, and polishing shoes . . .all your skills are fake!"

"Oh please, you have no proof Trancy." Maurice said,

"Oh, but I do." I replied, taking out several of the cards Maurice sent, taped back together after they were torn up. Maurice went wide-eyed.

"That's . . ." he began to say.

"Oh you recognize this?" I asked, holding one in between my fingers. "Its one of the cards you gave your entourage to ask to do your job. All have a date and time, all in your handwriting."

"I-I told them to dispose of them . ." he said, beginning to panic. I chuckled.

"Oh, never underestimate my abilities, Cole." I replied. "What would Redmond think if he knew this? As a student of this prestigious school, aren't you ashamed?!" I calmed myself for a moment then continued. "At least be honest with Redmond . . Fags should be trustworthy brothers, right?" Maurice looked down a bit.

"Yeah . . .I'll tell him . ." He said, then looked at me. "No way In Hell!" then snapped his fingers. Six students, much larger than myself came in and grabbed me, restricting any movement. Maurice took every note I had and lit a match, burning all of them. Then grabbed my tie, pulling my face close to his.

"Your attitude pisses me off!" he snarled. "You're getting carried away just because the seniors fancy you. . . Using others is a skill, you know? I'm simply making good use of otherwise average people. Since I'm the most beautiful in school . . . at least before you came along." He pulled my face closer, grabbing something metal from his jacket and ripped my shirt open. I let out a small gasp from the sudden rush of cold air. He traced the blade along my bare chest. "Let's see . . let's take some pictures, eh? Ones that'll make you die of shame!" Maurice said. His accomplices smiled wickedly as they stripped off my shoes and tried to take off my shirt and jacket completely.

"Please stop it!" I said, actually getting quite scared.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" two people shout. I looked to see it was Greenhill and Edward, followed by Ciel. Greenhill, using his cricket bat, swatted away the students holding me still.

"Cole, I swore that'd I never use violence again, and you make me break my promise." Greenhill snarled, glaring at Maurice who was shaking a little and kneeling.

"P-Please Greenhill, don't tell Redmond!" Maurice begged.

"Shouldn't you ask us the same?" Bluer said, coming into the room with Violet.

"Bluer? and Violet?! W-why are you here?" Maurice asked.

"After hearing that the skilled and brilliant Maurice Cole is about to commit an act of violence," Edward said, "anyone would come running."

"But the Swan Gazebo is far away from here!" Maurice said. "My voice couldn't be that loud."

"Well Sound is not transmitted by volume . . but by vibrations"I said, Ciel helping me up then explained that by using a series of perfectly strained thread on the back of each canvas, everything that was said in that art room was transmitted to the Swan Gazebo. Even though I didn't tell Cole, but at that very moment, Sebastian was making sure everyone say Cole's "real face". I felt someone ruffle my hair. I turned to see it was Bluer.

"You were brave, Trancy." he said, smiling. Which was very odd, for Bluer never smiles.

"T-thank you . . . I couldn't stand the thought that other people had been deceived . . " I said, smiling. "I've always been against injustice." The three prefects smiled at me, along with Edward.

"You follow traditions , and you don't lie and you are of pure and noble blood." Greenhill said. "You are a model student of this school." I smiled back at them. I did feel bad I was still lying to them. I don't like it but I have my duty as the Queen's Spider (Though Ihate the title) and that has to come first for now. I may have won this battle, but the conclusion of the war is still far away. . .

Later that evening when everyone else had gone to bed, I snuck into Sebastian's study. Since that first night I saw him crying, I decided to check on him each night before I went to bed. Some days were better than others, some were worse.

Today was one of those worse days.

Without saying a word, I changed into a fluffy black kitten and went to him. Sebastian must have sensed me, for he looked down and had a small smile on his face. "Trying to cheer me up, My Lady?" he asked.

"Maybe." I replied, being able to speak as a cat. "Is it working?" He smiled a bit wider and nodded once, picking me up and hugging me more gently than he would a normal cat. I purred involuntarily and rubbed my head against his cheek, again involuntarily.

I tend to take on some of the characteristics of the animals I can turn into, thought in retrospect, I have only been able to turn into kitten successfully. Not that I'm complaining, I rather enjoy being a cat. Plus, I think Sebastian really could use the cheering up . . . This is the only time I've ever seen him act like a human . . . . It's like seeing a mean Hannah or an emotional Claude, It never happens. But then again, a lot of impossible things have happened today. "What are you thinking, My Lady?" Sebastian asked, noticing I had been quiet for a long time.

"Nothing of importance . . ."


	20. The New Plan

Clayton took Melody in the church, to swear her into becoming his fag. "You will never betray me . . .and always be moderate . . .Let's swear to Saint George that we maintain a relationship that benefits each other, until the day we leave this school." Clayton said. giving Melody their House flower to pin onto her jacket. "I request you become my fag, Alois Trancy." Melody got down on one knee and put a hand over her heart.

"I humbly accept." she replied. Clayton pinned the House flower to Melody's jacket; Melody smiled and stood up. Clayton gave her a little smile back then they returned to their dormitory where several first years surround Melody like Piranhas.

"Congratulations Trancy!" they shouted.

"Uh . . thank you . ." Melody said awkwardly. This crowd continued to follow her for the rest of the day, untill someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into Sebastian's office. "Thanks, Ciel." Melody said.

"No problem." Ciel said, sitting in a chair. Melody sat with him and rested her head on his shoulder, exhausted. Ciel was a bit surprised but smiled and pet her head.

"Your plan is going very well, My Lady." Sebastian commented.

"Yes, but the final goal is still far away."Melody reminded them. "The Queen's order is to find out the reason her relative Derrick Arden and the other students shut themselves up in this school."

"And why they stopped contacting their families, however . ." Ciel continued.

"We still haven't seen them, any of them." Sebastian commented. "Very suspicious."

"I thought we could force them home," Ciel said. "But the Queen only wanted us to investigate the reason . ."

"Something serious is happening here." Melody said. "He's not there."

"Huh?" Sebastian and Ciel said at the same time.

"Last night, I went to the Violet House without anyone seeing me. I can't sense his soul or the other students in question there." Melody explained. "I assume they were never in the Purple House. . . .And I've heard some things among the students and the P4."

"Like what, My Lady?" Sebastian asked.

"There is a cricket tournament on June 4th . . The Principal will be in attendance." Melody said. Both Ciel and Sebastian went wide-eyed. This would be the perfect opportunity to get to the Principal! "And according to McMillan, the Principal invites one student who did well in the tournament to the Midnight Tea Party." Ciel grinned.

"That's perfect!" Ciel said excitedly. "How do they get chosen?"

"Apparently, the criteria is different every year . . . Mainly, it's showing play worthy of a gentleman . ." Melody replied. Ciel groaned.

"Damn it . . That's probably harder than just winning the game . . " Ciel mumbled. Melody shrugged.

"And there's only eleven people on the cricket team for each House . . .We have to get chosen for that position . . " Melody continued. Ciel groaned again, thinking this would be very hard to get chosen out of the many students in their dormitory. Melody kissed his cheek. "We'll think of something to get chosen." she said. Ciel smiled and kissed her cheek back, causing her to smile back at him.

Melody's POV

The next day, Clayton pulled me and Ciel aside. "Congratulations, you two. You've been chosen to be players for the cricket tournament on June 4th."

"R-Really?" Ciel said in surprise.

"Wh-What an honor," I said. "But why us?"

"Our Dorm is different from those muscle heads at the others, in that we specialize in strategic play. Your brains and guts showed in uncovering Maurice Cole's injustice will certainly be of use to the team," Clayton explained. "And Professor Michaelis strongly recommended that we take both of you . . . he said you work best when you're together." I grinned. _Well Done Sebastian! _"You should thank him." Clayton said.

"We will, thank you so much!" I said, then Ciel and I went to find Sebastian, who was walking to the dormitory.

"Professor Michaelis!" I called, Ciel and I running to him. Sebastian turned and smiled a bit.

"Trancy, Phantomhive, you shouldn't run." he said.

"I'm sorry but we wanted to thank you for recommending us as players." I said, smiling widely.

"There's no need to thank me . . but I will be checking both of your homework and I expect nothing less than your usual brilliance. Because after all, I am one hell of a teacher." Sebastian said with a smirk. "I look forward to June 4th."

Ciel's POV

The day before the cricket tournament, there was supposed to be this big party beforehand. The Dormitory's teams were waiting outside the hall where everyone else was waiting for us, all dressed in costumes according to their team. For the Green House, it was knights. For the Red House, they looked a bit like rich explorers. For the Violet House, it was a like a ghost Legion. For the Blue House, we were dressed like scholars. As we entered the hall, each of the House prefects went forward to this big goblet.

"Light the flame of St. George!" the Vice Principal commanded.

"All of us players," Greenhill said.

"Vow to keep," Bluer said.

"To the Tradition of Weston College." Redmond said.

"and to fight fair and square until the end." Violet said, all four of them lighting the goblet.

"And with this, I declare the 1890 school year Cricket tournament open!" the Vice Principal shouted, then cleared his throat. "I'm sure there will be some fierce competition tomorrow, so please enjoy tonight festivities to your heart's content." Everyone clapped then the Vice Principal fell down a small set of stairs and onto his face. "Sorry, Sorry." he said, standing up.

"Clayton, if you don't mind, I'd like to go back to the dormitory." Melody said, turning to the prefect's fag.

"Why?" Clayton asked.

"Im not the biggest fan of parties . . . . Plus i think I would be better use preparing our strategy for tomorrow. " Melody said with a slightly embarrassed smile. Clayton nodded.

"Alright, you are excused. I expect you to be in bed when we get back." Clayton said.

"Of course," Melody said then left the hall. _what are you doing, Melody? _As soon as Melody left, we were surrounded by Bluer's three older sisters and four younger sisters.

"My, you're Phantomhive, aren't you?" One of his older sisters said, pointing to me. "My brother wrote about you and your little friend Trancy."

"Y-yes," I said.

"His looks, brains, and linage are all good. He's ideal." she said.

"Yes," another older sister of Bluer's said. "How about it? Won't you take our little sister to be your wife?" A pair of arms wrapped around my neck.

"Sorry girls, but he's all mine." a voice said. I turned to see Melody, now dressed like a girl. I smiled.

"Aw, all the good ones are always taken." one of the older sisters complained. Melody unwrapped her arms from around my neck.

"Aren't you a pretty thing," Redmond said, coming toward us with Soma. "You're a lucky man, Phantomhive." I smiled a bit awkwardly then Melody slipped her fingers into mine, making me less nervous.

"Edgar! When will you escort me!" one of Bluer's younger sisters said.

"Perhaps when you don't step on my feet for once." Redmond replied.

"Aw! That's so mean!" the sister said, crying a little.

"That's no way to talk to a Lady, Edgar!" a unfortunately familiar voice said. "I turned my head to see the Viscount Druitt. "Have you forgotten what I've taught you, dear nephew?"

"Uncle Aleister!" Redmond said, a bit embarrassed.

"Don't call me Uncle." Viscount Druitt said.

"Melody Trancy, still an indecent girl as always." Aunt Frances said, coming toward us with Elizabeth.

"Hello Marchioness Midford." Melody said with a scowl. "And as I've told you before, I don't care what you think of me." The other boys were astonished and some let out gasps, my Aunt's reputation preceding her.

"Well, I never . ." Aunt Frances said, then Elizabeth cut her off.

"Melody!" she said, hugging her tightly.

"Elizabeth! too tight!" Melody said, being crushed by Elizabeth's hug.

"Sorry," Elizabeth said, pulling away.

"Melody." We all looked to see my Uncle, Elizabeth's father.

"Lord Midford, A pleasure to see you." Melody said politely. He smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Such a sweet girl," my Uncle said, then turned to his wife. "And you call her an indecent brat." Aunt Frances went red-faced as the others snickered.

"Ciel, will you do me the honor of a dance?" Melody asked.

"I'd love to," I said, taking her hand to the dance floor.

_Tomorrow, the Games Begin._


	21. Questions for the Characters

_**Hello my lovelies!**_

_**Sorry this isn't a chapter; I'm having some serious writer's block.**__** So, I decided to do a "Questions for the Characters". You can ask any character, major or minor, dead or alive, any question you like. I'll post the answers with either the next chapter or the one after that. So until the next update!**_

_**-theangeloffandoms**_


	22. The Midnight Tea Party Part 1

_The Final game . . . the Blue House against the Green House . . Bluer against Greenhill . . . Thanks to Melody and Ciel's combined minds, They were able to defeat the Red House and are now neck and neck with the Green House. The Blue House was at 105, The Green House at 103 . . One throw would decide who would win._

Bluer threw in a high arch, as he had done before. "We Will Win!" Greenhill shouted, swing his bat back behind his head when it happened. The crowd let out a collective gasp, as did the players. Melody had been behind Greenhill and got hit with his bat. Her eyes went wide as she fell backwards, then clasped both her hands to her bleeding forehead. "Oh My God, Are you okay?" Greenhill asked, abandoning the game. Melody got to her knees and threw the cricket ball, knocking the rod off the three posts.

"Out!" the Umpire called. "The Blue House Wins!" The crowd let out a collective cheer, as the Blue House picked Melody up and raised her into the air.

"Blue Miracle! Blue Miracle!" they chanted, heaving her into the air.

"Wait a second!" Ciel called, taking Melody away from them. "He's hurt!" The other Blue House students realized Melody was indeed still bleeding an allowed him to take Melody to the infirmary. "That wasn't the plan." he muttered, swinging his arm under her legs and carrying her bridal style.

"Still won, didn't we?" Melody said with a small smile on her face. Ciel smiled and let out a sigh.

"You are such an idiot," he said.

"But I'm your idiot,"

Melody's POV

"Everything went according to your plan, My Lady." Sebastian said, cleaning my wound as I held my bangs back. I took in a sharp intake of air, it hurting a little.

"Yeah . .though I didn't expect Greenhill to hit me that hard . ." she replied.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright now." Ciel said, sitting next to me. I smiled then Ciel put a bandage onto my head.

"There . .You're all patched up . . Though with your healing rate, it should be completely healed by the party tonight." Ciel said.

"Ah, that's right . . . I forgot about that . ." I said. Sebastian nodded and put one of the uniforms for the party on the bed.

"We'll leave you to change for tonight," he said, then he and Ciel left. I let out a sigh and was about to change when someone walked in. I assumed it was a teacher by his black cloak, a similar uniform Sebastian wears here. He wore a top hat also, which shielded most of his face, so I can't really tell what he looks like.

"You did very well today, I wished to congratulate you." he said.

"T-thank you, sir." I replied, something about this guy was odd . . . But I don't know why . . . He smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately, like how Sebastian would . . Okay, this is getting too eeire. Before I could say another word, he left the room. "Well, that was weird." I thought aloud, then put the uniform on for the boat parade later tonight.

* * *

_The Famous Weston High 4th of June Cricket Tournament, the main Event afterwards is the winning Dorm's Boat Parade. _

The Blue House Team, all dressed in the boat parade uniforms of their dorm, stood in a line to take a winning photo. Melody, having slightly different uniform, stood on the end of the line with Bluer, held a large bouquet of flowers in her hands as the photographer took their picture. After the picture was taken, Bluer stepped out of line and turned to his fellow players. "I'll explain the Parade Sequence." he said, then explained exactly what was to happen. First, they would row on the _Fellows 8_ along the Thames. Once they approached the Windsor Castle, all of them would take the flower-filled hats and salute the Queen. Finally, they would throw the flowers from their hats into the river and return. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Bluer asked. The other ten nodded and they climbed into the boat. Melody sat at the head as the cox, facing the direction they were meant to go while the other ten faced her, prepared to row.

"Ready?" she asked. The others nodded in response then begun to row. As this was going on, the lanterns that were strewn across the Weston gardens on strings above the heads of the crowd were lit and the crowd cheered for the Blue House. Soon they reached the castle, Melody standing up and keeping perfect balance. The other followed and were about to salute the Queen when the boat began to tip, sending all eleven people into the river. The crowd roared with laughter as the team scrambled to grab hold of the overturned boat. Then, the fireworks started, illuminating the night sky with its brilliant colors.

"It's beautiful . ." Melody commented, looking up.

"It's so bright," Bluer said, turning to look at her with a smile on his face. "It's so bright it remains on my eyes." Melody smiled back, then someone splashed her in the head. She turned to see Ciel with a mischievous grin on his face. Melody smirked back at him and splashed him back in return.

"Oh it's on," Ciel said, then they two of them had a small splash fight between the two of them. Bluer was about to stop them when Clayton put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, let them have their fun. It's kind of cute, actually." Clayton said with a small smile. Bluer nodded, then remembered tonight was the night . . .

_The Midnight Tea Party_

Ciel's POV

"That was fun," Melody said with a yawn when we returned to the dormitory after the party.

"Yes it was," I commented, then saw something on Melody's bed. Melody must have seen it too, for she went wide-eyed and picked it up. It was a teacup and saucer, wrapped in a bow with a flower that had not yet bloomed. "We did it . . . We got the right to see the Principal!" I said excitedly, putting the cup on her bed and hugged her, spinning her a bit. Melody grinned and hugged me back.

"It all ends tonight, once and for all!" she said, grinning. "

That night, Melody went to the Midnight Tea Party, accompanied by Clayton; I followed her without anyone seeing me. Clayton lead her into the Principal's office, where all four prefects were waiting for her. "Welcome, Trancy." all four of them said at once.

"To the Elegant," Redmond said.

"Traditional," Bluer continued.

"High Class," Greenhill said.

"Bizarre," Violet continued

"Midnight Tea Party." All four of them said at once. A part of the wall opened to reveal a passageway. When they went through, the passageway led to a secret garden. There was a table in the middle, a dozen chairs surrounding it, and tea set out. The vice principal and the principal were already seated. Soon all of the prefects and their fags sat at the table. Melody sat at the opposite end of the table from the principal.

"Now that we are all here . . there's something I need to know . . . About Derek Arden and his friends." Melody said. The prefects went wide-eyed. Melody stood up and placed her hands on the table before continuing. "Five Students, no one has heard from them in a year, this is obviously quite strange! Mr. Principal, I want answers . . what happened to these students?!"

"They're right there." the Vice Principal said, pointing to a second door. It opened revealing a light-haired teenage student.

_Derek Arden?!_

I went wide-eyed, not only because it was Derek but what he was . . .He wasn't human anymore. He was one of them. . . . _A Bizarre Doll._

"Stay back! All of You!" Melody shouted.

"Why?" Greenhill asked.

"He's already dead . . .God I'm such an idiot!" she said, slapping her forehead.

"Why should we listen to you, Trancy?" Violet asked,

"UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW, YOU BETTER BLOODY HELL LISTEN TO ME!" Melody shouted, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Hey . . the tea smells good . . ." Derek said in a monotone voice walking towards Greenhill. Melody quickly ran and attacked Derek with her demonic speed, eventually tying him up in the table cloth so he couldn't hurt anyone. Unfortunately, Derek tore of the prosthetic Melody had put on her face to make her appear more masculine. Her true face was now revealed, drawing gasps from the others.

"Now, who wants to tell me why Derek Arden is already dead?" Melody asked, keeping a leg on Derek to prevent him from moving.

"You're a girl?!" Greenhill said in shock.

"Yes I'm girl Greenhill, now answer my question." Melody said, annoyed.

"But he was just moving . . ." Clayton said, also in shock.

"Well that's because he is one of them . . . A soul-less creature called a Bizarre Doll . . Now I want answers and be quick about it . . . my patience is wearing very thin." she said. Then the prefects spoke up . . .

_They set out to kill Derek Arden._


	23. The Midnight Tea Party Part 2

Melody turned to the Principal, who had not said a word this entire time. "Now I see why you avoided us . . . .It makes sense you would be involved . . . .Now, why don't you drop the teacher act, Undertaker?" she said.

"Aww . . .I really liked this job too," the Principal said, revealing his true identity. "Your senses have become quite strong, my little Lady. I'm quite impressed"

"Why thank you," Melody said with a small smirk. "Now, since we are such good terms . . . .Mind explaining why Derek Arden is one of your Dolls? Why go to all that trouble?" The Undertaker smiled.

"Since you have already provided my usual payment . . . ." Undertaker said, leaning his elbows on the table then started to chuckle. "The look on their faces when they saw you were a lady! . . . Alright, I shall have these lovely gentlemen explain." Melody turned to look at the prefects and they explained what had happened. That Derek Arden had been a bully, a cheat, and a liar. Melody looked down at the former student then back at the prefects.

"Well, it probably sounds very wrong . . . But I can understand why you did what you did . . . " Melody said. "Killing him, not bringing him back to life as a Bizarre Doll. That is unacceptable . . . The dead should _stay _dead."

"Ah, well I should be going . . . It would be quite bad if I was found out by annoying individuals. I bid you farewell, my Little Lady." Undertaker said.

"Oh no you don't! We're not done here!" Melody said, about to go after him when the Vice Principal blocked her path. Now that she was up close and personal, Melody realized she had made a great mistake . . .

_The Vice Principal was one of them . . . Another Bizarre Doll_

"Ciel! Get them out of here! I'll handle him!" Melody called but he was not there. "Ciel! CIEL!" she called again. Taking the advantage of her being distracted, the former Vice Principal made his attack by biting into her shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain, she turned back to the former Vice Principal and bashed his head into the ground with every scrap of strength she had. She held onto her injured shoulder, trying to stop the flow of blood. She turned to see that the prefects and their fags had already left, leaving her by herself.

Ciel's POV

By the time I returned with Sebastian, everyone was gone. The prefects, their fags, and the Undertaker had all vanished. The Vice Principal, Derek Arden, and his friends were lifeless, their heads smashed against the ground. Melody was kneeling near the table, holding her shoulder which was bleeding heavily.

"Oh God, Melody!" I said, running to her. I helped her up and turned to look at her. She looked up at me, a blank look that was unfamilar to me,

"Where were you?" she mumbled.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Where were you . . .I needed your help . . . and you weren't there . . . ." she said. With that, my heart broke into a million tiny pieces.

"Come on, let's get out of here." I said, carrying her in my arms and making sure I didn't hurt her injured shoulder.

"Put me down." Melody said. "I can walk." I nodded and out her down. With that, the three of us walked out of the garden.

* * *

After they had closed the case, the three of them went back to the manor. Things weren't exactly the same with Ciel and Melody . . . which the servants had also begun to notice. All five of them went into their master's study to find out what had happened.

"Young Master, may we speak with you for a moment?" Finnie asked, poking his head into the room. Ciel nodded and all five servants entered.

"Did something happen during your last case?" Mey-Rin asked.

"You and Lady Melody haven't spoken to each other much since you got back." Bard continued.

"That isn't of your concern, now please leave. I'm busy." Ciel said with slight bitterness in his tone. Mey-Rin, Bard, Finnie, and Snake left but Tanaka stayed.

"Young Master, please listen to me for a moment." Tanaka said, "I've seen situations like this before. I may not know what the details were but I do know that whatever did happen should be resolved. . . It's rare to find what you have with Miss Melody . . .I'd hate to see that go away." With that, Tanaka left the room. Ciel let out a sigh, knowing he was right. He got up from his paperwork and left to go find Melody. He tracked her down to where she had been the past few days, in the library, reading a book.

"Hey . . can we talk for a minute?" he asked, getting her attention. Melody looked up and closed her book then put it on the table next to her. Ciel went up to her and hugged her. "I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry I left you by yourself with those things . . . ." he muttered. "If I could go back, I wouldn't have left . . . You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I stayed . . . Im so so sorry Melody." It was quiet for several seconds before Ciel felt Melody wrap her arms around him, burying her face into his neck.

"You're an idiot." she muttered. Ciel smiled a bit.

"Yes, but I'm your idiot." he replied. Melody smiled and held him a bit tighter. Out in the hall, the servants were grinning, seeing that everything was okay now.

Ciel's POV

That night, I felt a bit better than I had for the past few nights and fell asleep easily.

_I could hear screaming, definitely from the P4 and their fags as they ran out of the garden. Worried, I ran in with Sebastian but we were too late. All the Bizarre Dolls were dead, but Melody was dying. I ran to her, pulling her into my arms._

"_Oh my god . . . Melody, Melody stay with me okay!" I said frantically, trying to stop the bleeding from her wound._

"_Where were you . . ." she choked out. "I need your help . . . A-and you weren't there . . ."_

"_I'm sorry . . I'm so so sorry . . ." i said, hot tears beginning to flow down my face. "Please don't leave me." Then her heart stopped . . . Her eyes were still open, unmoving. I shook my head. "No . . No . . come back . . please come back . . .don't leave me alone . . ." I said, my voice breaking and my world crumbling around me. "Don't leave me alone . . .Melody . . .Melody . . "_

_Ciel wake up!_

I opened my eyes, sitting straight up and gasping for air. _It was just a nightmare . . . But it didn't feel like one. _"Hey you okay?" I looked up to see Melody standing by my bedside, a worried look on her face. I slowly shook my head no then Melody hugged me. I hugged her back, holding her tight. "Bad nightmare?" she muttered. I nodded.

"Hey . . w-would you mind s-staying here for the night?" I asked. Melody pulled away and nodded. She crawled into my bed, cuddling up to me. I smiled and held her, nuzzling my face into her dark hair. "I love you . . so much." I muttered.

"I love you too, Ciel" Melody replied. I smiled wider then drifted back into sleep, feeling more relaxed.


	24. Melody's Birthday

Ciel's POV

Things were quiet once again in the manor, things went back to the way they were until one day in mid-July. I was reading over the most recent report from one of my toy factories when I put the paperwork down and let out a sigh, not wanting to work. I turned to look outside, to see it was perfect day to be outside . . . . I let out another sigh. _I still felt guilty about what happened during that last case . . . . I should do something for her . . she deserves it, but what? Then it struck me. She's lived here for two years now and we never celebrated her birthday. Hell, i don't even know when it is. Shit . . . And I can't ask her myself, that would be too embarrassing . . .But I can get someone else to ask her . ._

"Finne, Bard, Mey-Rin, I have a job for you." I said when all three walked in.

"Yay!" Finnie said with enthusiasm. "What do you need us to do, Young Master?" I then explained what I wanted them to do.

"Huh . . Now that I think about it . . we never did celebrate Miss Melody's birthday . . ." Mey-Rin commented.

"Yeah . . .How come you don't know it, Young Master?" Bard asked. I scowled at them.

"That's none of your business . . Just do as I ordered!" I said, growing angry. The three servants nodded then left the room. I covered my face with my hands and let out a groan.

* * *

Finnie, Bard, and Mey-Rin found Melody in the garden outside, playing with a kitten. They smiled at her cuteness and went up to her. Melody, sensing their presence, looked up. "Oh hey," she said.

"Miss Melody, may we ask you a question?" Mey-Rin asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Melody asked, standing up and holding the fluffy black kitten in her arms.

"When is your birthday? We never got to celebrate it last year." Mey-Rin asked. Melody was surprised by the question then thought about it for a moment before answering.

"It's not important," Melody replied. "You have many more things to worry about besides that."

"But Miss Melody," Finnie said, giving her a cute look. "We just want to do something special for you . . . You do so much for us . . please?"

"Really you don't have to do that," Melody replied.

"But we want to," all three servants said.

"Please, don't . . ." she said before going inside, still carrying the kitten. The servants frowned.

"Oh dear, now what?" Mey-Rin said.

"What are you all doing?"

All the three servants turned their head to the voice, to see that it was Sebastian who had spoken. "The Young Master wanted us to find out when Miss Melody's birthday was, Mr. Sebastian." Finnie admitted. The other two servants nodded in confirmation.

"Hmm . ." Sebastian said. "Don't worry, I shall acquire that information."

"Thank you, Mr. Sebastian." Mey-rin and Finnie said, smiling.

"Yeah, thanks Sebastian." Bard said, then the three servants went inside the manor. Sebastian let out a small chuckle then went inside as well and went up to his master's study.

"Young Master, I have news for you." Sebastian said, walking into Ciel's study.

"Oh, what is it?" Ciel asked, turning his chair around to look at his demon butler.

"August 1st."

"Huh?" Ciel asked, giving him a confused look.

"August 1st . . . Miss Melody's birthday." Sebastian explained. "You know, I'm quite surprised."

"Oh, why?" Ciel asked.

"Miss Melody has lived with us for two years and you never asked that simple question." Sebastian said with a small chuckle. Ciel glared at the demon butler.

"Shut up!" he said, very annoyed. Sebastian let out one more chuckle before exiting the room. Ciel growled then leaned back into his chair. Now that he knew, Ciel was determined to make it special for her.

Ciel's POV

On the morning of Melody's birthday, I asked Sebastian to wake me earlier than he usually does. I went to Melody's bedroom to see that she was still asleep, curled up like a cat. I smiled at her cuteness then gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. She let out a yawn then opened her eyes and smiled a bit.

"Hey," she said in a sleepy voice, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

"Hey, I have a surprise for you." I said. Melody sat up in her bed.

"Oh, and what is it?" Melody asked.

"I'll show you . . after you get dressed." I said. Melody nodded then I went out of the room. Once Melody got dressed, we walked downstairs and were about to go into the dining hall when their was a knock on the door. Melody and I looked at each other, not expecting anyone to visit today. Sebastian opened the door and I saw him go slightly stiff. It was an older couple, late fifties or early sixties. The woman had strawberry blonde hair, streaked with grey hairs and blue-grey eyes eyes. The man had dark brown hair with more streaks of grey than his wife and emerald green eyes. Going by their clothes, they were wealthy but I would recognize them if they were nobility.

"Cassandra and Lysander Miller, I presume?" Melody asked in a monotone voice.

"Yes," Cassandra said, American going by the accent. "We're looking for our daughter . . . we were told to come here."

"She died, five years ago. I'm sorry you were not informed." Melody replied, an emotionless tone that was very un-Melody like.

"Oh my god . ." Cassandra said, putting a hand over her mouth. Her husband, Lysander, held her close.

"Wait, who are you talking about Melody?" I muttered.

"Aurora Miller . . my mother." Melody muttered back. I went wide-eyed and looked back at the grieving couple.

"Wait, so those are . ."

"Yeah . . ." Melody said then walked to them. Lysander looked at her.

"How do you know this?" he asked, oblivious of who she really was. Melody looked at them, but I saw no love for them in her eyes.

"I watched it happen . . ." Melody said. "I'm her daughter, Melody." Both Lysander and Cassandra went wide-eyed.

"Her daughter . . ."Cassandra said in disbelief. "That's impossible . . we would have known . . ."

"She hasn't spoken to you in sixteen years, and she made it quite clear that she never wanted to speak with either of you again after what you did." Melody said in the same emotionless tone. "You left her to a _monster_ . . . All because of money . . . .You both make me _sick_." With that, Melody turned and went upstairs and out of sight. The elderly couple was speechless and looked down in shame.

"Just like Aurora . . ." Cassandra muttered.

"I believe it's time you both leave," Sebastian said, seeming somewhat angry at them.

"We have a right to see our granddaughter, please let us speak with her." Cassandra said in a determined tone.

"I believe Miss Melody made herself quite clear," Sebastian said. "And you talking to her will only upset her further, now leave." Cassandra was about to say something further but Lysander cut her off.

"Fine . . .But I expect you to take care of her Sebastian." Lysander said, surprising Sebastian.

"You know of me?" he asked.

"Yes . . Aurora talked about you many times before she stopped speaking to us . . ." Lysander said. "If you really loved our daughter, I would expect you to take care of Melody . . .You are her father after all." My eye grew wide with surprise, and so did Sebastian's. "I may be old, but I'm not blind . . . Farewell." Lysander said, then he and Cassandra left.

"Sebastian, is-is this true?" I asked. Sebastian let out a sigh then turned to me and gave me a silent nod. "Does she know about this?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing.

"No, she does not." Sebastian replied.

"And why is she not aware of this?" I asked. Sebastian looked down, avoiding my eyes.

"That is . . a bit difficult to explain . . ." Sebastian replied.

"You know what, I don't care what you reason is." I said, not wanting to deal with him at this very moment and was about to go to Melody when I remembered something. "I won't order you to tell her the truth . . . I shouldn't have to." I said, then went to Melody. Melody was laying on her bed, her hands covering her face. I let out a sigh then went to her. "How can I see your cute face if you do that?" I asked her. Melody uncovered her face, a small smile on her face.

"Are they still here?" she asked. I shook my head then Melody let out a sigh of relief.

"Good . . ." she said.

"I know it really isn't my place to ask but . . .what exactly happened with your mother and her parents?" I asked, curious. Melody looked up at me, moving so she was laying on her stomach to look at me.

"It's sort of a long story . . .And not very pleasant." Melody replied. "Lord Trancy . . he wanted to marry my mother but she refused . . there were rumors that he beat his first wife . .Alois and Bella's mother . . and that's why she died. However, Lord Trancy offered her parents a load of money and they agreed to the marriage." I went wide-eyed.

"That's horrible . . ." I commented.

"That's humans for you . . . They were poor and desperate . . ." Melody said, then let out a sigh. "To me, it seems like the best people always get the rottenest luck." I nodded in agreement then saw a small sketchbook on her bedside. Curious, I began to flip through it. All of them were sketches of the garden and of people's portraits. There were a few of the servants, some of Elizabeth . . Madame Red . . Sebastian . . and me. The most recent sketch was of a woman in her twenties . . I remember seeing this woman before but I can't remember where. . . .Melody drew her quite a couple times . . . "My mother." Melody explained, noticing that I was staring at the sketch. "I don't have any pictures of her . . So I draw her from memory . . ."

"Oh . ." I said, then got a really brilliant idea. "I'll be right back, okay?" Melody nodded, then I left her bedroom. Later that evening, Melody and I went into the dining hall to see that it was decorated for a party.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday Miss Melody!" Mey-Rin, Finnie, and Bard said, coming out of their hiding places. Melody went wide-eyed.

"Do you like it, Melody?" I asked, noticing Melody's silence. she nodded.

"It's really sweet of you to do all this." Melody said. I smiled.

"It's the least I could do from what happened with that last case . . You deserve it." I said. Melody smiled a little back. The servants and I smiled widely back.

After the party, Melody and I went into the study. "Did you enjoy your birthday, Melody?" I asked. Melody nodded.

"Yes I did . . thank you, Ciel." she said.

"You're welcome . . .But I still haven't given you your gift yet." I said.

"Oh you didn't have to do that . . " Melody replied.

"But I wanted to," I replied, then gave her a small box. Curious, Melody opened the box to see a silver locket. She clicked it open to see one side with a picture of her mother and on the other was a picture of me and her. Melody smiled widely and touched the picture of her mother.

"It's beautiful . . ." Melody said. "Thank you." I smiled then I put the locket on her. She smiled and hugged me. I hugged her back, burying my face into her sweet-smelling hair.

"Happy Birthday Melody"


	25. The Werewolf Woods

Melody's POV

"Germany?" Sebastian said, bringing in tea.

"I got a message from her Majesty to look into . . mysterious deaths in Germany." Ciel explained.

"She asked you to go personally?" Sebastian asked.

"The Phantomhive's are supposed to manage the underground society in England, so why do I need to go all the way to Germany?" Ciel complained.

"Well, the deaths are certainly unusual . . . Perfectly healthy people suddenly becoming grotesquely deformed and die." I pointed out. "It could become an epidemic."

"Perhaps . . but I still don't want to." Ciel said stubbornly. I pouted then remembered something.

"Well perhaps this will interest you . . . the locals of the village where the deaths occurred, when asked how the victims died, all of them said it was a witch's curse." I said, reading the report. "All of the victims visited a place called the _Werewolf Woods._" This sparked Ciel's interest immediately. "Southern Germany has some terrible witch hunts from the 14th to 17th century, the witches that managed to stay alive feld and settled into the forest. To protect themselves, the witches released their familiars into the forest. Ever since, it said that if you set foot in the forest, you will be cursed by the witch."

"People dying of a curse, that's ridiculous!" Ciel said.

"Says the human turned into a demon." I replied with a smirk.

"Touche," Ciel replied. "Sebastian, prepare the tickets."

"Yes, My Lord." Sebastian said then exited the room. Ciel let out a sigh.

"Oh come now, you aren't the slightest bit interested?" I asked, going to Ciel.

"Maybe . . Curses, witches, and werewolves? That sounds a bit far-fetched." Ciel said, wrapping his arms around me.

"Hmm . . maybe . . but it will certainly be interesting . . " I said, resting my head on his chest. "I'd like to see how this all turns out." Ciel smiled.

"Hm well let's hope this is over quickly then."

* * *

When they arrived in Nuremberg, the village where the deaths had occurred, all the locals were spooked by the recent tragedies. After Melody and Sebastian talked to some of the locals (Ciel can't speak German very well, so it was decided that Melody and Sebastian would do the talking and translate for Ciel), they discovered that there was one survivor. However, this survivor was 'off his rocker' and was taken to a hospital. Deciding to investigate the woods themselves, they bought a carriage and headed out into the supposed _Werewolf Woods. _The servants, who believed there was a curse on the woods, had been talking about it for about a quarter mile when Melody spoke up.

"I still think it a curse." Melody commented as they rode.

"Oh, don't start." Ciel said, a touch annoyed

"We've met reapers, angels, and demons. . . We've seen a normal human reanimate the dead and another who could be a match a demon in combat . . . . Knowing all this, you are telling me you don't believe in curses." Melody said.

"You do?" Ciel asked.

"Yes," Melody replied. "I believe there is such thing."

"Young Master, I can see buildings over there." Sebastian said, interrupting the debate. The two teens turned to see the tops of buildings, a village in the woods. When further investigating, they saw it was indeed a village and it appeared to be abandoned at first.

Melody's POV

"Jeder ! Nach ihnen! Eindringlinge !" a woman began to yell in German, banging a pot. Which roughly translates to them thinking we are intruders. Soon, a large group of women came running, all carrying some sort of weapon. What's weird is that they all looked like they were from the Middle Ages, based on clothing.

"Meister Sulllivan! Was machst du mit diesen Eindringlingen ?!" one of the woman said, looking at me. _What are you doing with these intruders?! _

"Ich bin nicht Meister Sullivan . Wir, dass Sie keinen Schaden." I said calmly. _I am not Master Sullivan. We mean you no harm. _

"What's all the fuss about?"

All the villagers turned to the voice and started apologising for letting intruders in. I also turned and went wide-eyed, seeing a girl being carried toward the crowd by a man dressed a bit like a butler.

"Woah . . she looks just like Miss Melody." Finnie commented. Which was very true, the girl did look a lot like me. Except this girl was at least a year younger than me and my hair is shorter than hers, mine barely reaching my shoulders.

"I am Sieglinde Sullivan, Lord of this forest." the girl said then saw me and always went wide-eyed. "Woah . . ."

"They're dangerous! We should dispose of them!" one woman shouted in German.

"Oi, at least let us explain why we are here before you decided to kill us!" I shouted back in German.

"I'll listen to what my twin has to say." Sieglinde said. "Night will fall soon, we will give you a place to stay for the night. In that time, you will explain why you are here." I nodded.

"What just happened?" Ciel muttered, not understanding much German.

"They are allowing us to stay in Sieglinde's manor house for the night. During that time, she wants me to explain why we are here." I explained in a hushed tone. Ciel nodded than we followed Sieglinde and Wolfram, the man carrying Sieglinde. Though he does look a lot like a wolf . . . As we walked, I noticed that the center of town was filled with torture devices that were used during the witch trials. Perhaps there was something occult about this . . .

"Hey Twin! What is your's and your friend's name?" Sieglinde asked, pointing to Ciel.

"My name is Melody and his name is Ciel." I told her. Sieglinde nodded.

"How old are you two?" she asked.

"I am fifteen years old . . . he is fourteen years old." I replied.

"Hmm . ." Sieglinde said, then we arrived to her manor, which look more like a storybook witch's castle than a manor. But still, it definitely fit the rest of the village.

"Your home is very beautiful." I commented. Sieglinde smiled.

"Thank you." she said then we went inside. "It's rare to have guests. We'll serve you a special dinner."

"That is very kind of you, Sieglinde." I said politely then sat down, Ciel sitting next to me. Sieglinde sat at the head of the table.

"Hey, how come he hasn't spoken? Can't he talk?" Sieglinde asked.

"Yes he can talk but he isn't very proficient in German yet." I explained. "When he does speak to you, I'll translate. Okay?" Sieglinde nodded.

"What is the name of the black-haired man?" Sieglinde asked.

"His name is Sebastian. He is Ciel's butler." I explained.

"Where are your parents?" she asked. I was a bit surprised by this question and thought for a moment before answering.

"My mother and Ciel's parents died a long time ago." I replied.

" Oh . . . What about your father, Melody?" Sieglinde asked.

"I never knew him." I said, then Sebastian and Wolfram served us dinner, which looked really good. Sieglinde began to eat in an . . . un-ladylike fashion . . as in eating very fast and messily. I guess she didn't care about people's impressions. . . . I have a feeling that we'll get along . . .Then one of the women from the village came in, panting from running.

"The Werewolf has shown up! She's been badly hurt, Master Sullivan please save her."

"Hurry! Wolf!" Sieglinde said, her butler picking her up and carrying her into the village.

"You wait here." Wolfram said in broken English.

"No way, this is why we are here. To learn the dangers of the forest." I said. Sieglinde nodded, then went into the village. The woman who had been attacked had the back of her dress ripped open, the wound looked a lot like claw marks.

Sebastian's POV

Melody muttered something into Sieglinde's ear. Sieglinde nodded then said something in German to the other villagers. The villagers then started to lit more fires, illuminating the village square. Sieglinde then gave Melody a small jar and together they treated the woman's wound. I looked at my Young Master and saw the wheels turning his head, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Shall we search the woods now?" I muttered.

"No, wait" Ciel muttered back. "We can't make any suspicious moves."

"It's the Wrath of the Great Werewolves!"

Everyone turned to see a hag-like woman, her face disfigured like those of the corpses. "The great werewolves have been angered by letting outsiders disrupt the forest!" the hag shouted. "Outsiders, hurry up and leave."

"It's because she didn't carry her talisman! They don't attack if you were them!" Sieglinde said, defending us which surprised me a little.

"Have the Great Werewolves ever laid a hand on us before?!" the hag shouted. "Are you protecting these outsiders, Green Witch?!" Then went on a rant about how this was all our fault, then went to Melody. "It's all your fault! Yours! YOURS!" then the hagged walked away.

"If you value your life, DO NOT ENTER THE FOREST ALONE!" Wolfram said to the villagers as they carried the injured woman away. Then they all went back to the Green manor, it going to be a long night.


	26. The Green Witch

Ciel's POV

That evening, Sebastian prepared me strong tea in the bedroom I would be sleeping in for as long as we stayed in the Green Witch's manor. "To think they're would actually be victims of werewolves . ." I said, taking a sip. "Guess Melody's theory may be right . . ."

"Perhaps . . " Sebastian said, then went quite. He opened the door and Sieglinde went crashing onto the floor, balloons tied to her waist. Sebastian and Sieglinde talked for a few short minutes, then she turned her attention to me and said something in German that I couldn't understand.

"What?" I asked. She said something else in German and there was a look in her eyes that I didn't like . . .She then laid on her back on the bed with a thump, her arms spread out. I freaked and jumped to my feet, my face going blood red. "Whhhaaaatttt?!" I said. She sat up and said something else in German, then began to unbutton the front of her dress. "NONONONONONO Wait a second! What are you trying to do here ?! I don't understand what you are saying but I know there's a misunderstanding!" I said quickly, hoping that she was getting the message.

"What the hell is going on?" Melody asked, coming into the room, obvious that she had woken up. She saw what was going on, I had never seen Melody's face go to bright red quicker than I had just now. She grabbed Sieglinde by the arm and away from me then said something angrily in German. Sieglinde gave her a confused look then said something lengthy in German. Melody face-palmed then said something to Sieglinde.

"Ohh . . " Sieglinde said, then continued to say something in German. Melody went even deeper red than stuttered something to Sieglinde.

"Sebastian, what the hell just happened?" I asked.

"To sum it up, Miss Melody got quite angry that Miss Sieglinde tried to be forward with you. Then Miss Sieglinde explained that she only did it because all the books about men she has read said, as she put it, that they were always overflowing with lust and that she was getting the message that this was what you wanted. Miss Melody then explained that even though some were like that, you were not. Miss Sieglinde then got the idea in her head that Miss Melody was your lover and said that she was a lucky girl. Miss Melody got embarrassed then explained that you had never done such things and that Miss Sieglinde was all wrong and that she was too young to think about such things." Sebastian explained.

"Oh . . " I said, blush with embarrassment.

"Yeah," Melody said, her face still bright red. Sieglinde then tapped Melody shoulder and asked her something. Melody was surprised then nodded.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"She asked if we could tell her about the outside world. She's never left this village and is curious of it." Melody explained.

"Wait, so is everything good now?" I asked. Melody nodded then Melody told Sieglinde about the outside world while i did my best with some of it but I was really tired.

Sebastian's POV

"Hmm . . well what would you like me to start with?" Melody asked Sieglinde.

"Um . . How about the people? What are the people outside like?" she asked.

"Well, that's the thing about people . . . they're not so different, wherever you are . . . They just dress and speak differently." Melody replied. "For example, Ciel and I come from a country called England. We are nobles there, and it's quite diverse in culture."

"How so?" Sieglinde asked.

"Well, they're not just English people there. There is people from many different countries who come to England for a second chance. People from China, France, Italy, India . . ."

"Really? How many countries are there?" Sieglinde asked.

"I'm not sure, but there is a lot of them." Melody replied. "And there are amazing people who come from them. One I've met, an Indian man that has the strength of a demon who is devoted to his prince as if he was his god."

"Woah . . And he's a normal human?" Sieglinde asked, amazed.

"Yep, he's is also quite wise and kind. He's a good friend." Melody replied. "Another, a woman who came from China, is one of the finest warriors I had ever seen." Sieglinde went wide-eyed.

"Really? What's she like?" Sieglinde asked excitedly.

"She is . . not one for speaking. But her heart is in the right place." Melody told her. Sieglinde nodded, fascinated. "There's also a man who could make a bomb out of flour and a match." Melody continued. "A woman who could shoot an assassin at two hundred yards without any assistance . . . there's also a boy with the biggest heart who could lift a fully-grown tree and swing it around like its nothing." Sieglinde was fascinated by the many stories Melody told.

"By the greatest of them all, is the one right here." Melody said, turning to me. "Sebastian here can do many extraordinary things. He can take an entire army by himself and come out without a scratch, he's an excellent cook and a brilliant teacher."

"You flatter me, Miss Melody." I said, bowing slightly. " But I'm simply . ."

"One hell of a butler," Melody finished, smiling. I smiled back at her then noticed that Sieglinde had fallen asleep. Melody smiled wider then the door opened.

"It seems like the Young Lady has disturbed your rest." Wolfram said, walking into the room.

"She just fell asleep . . ." Melody said. Wolfram then picked Sieglinde up off the bed.

"Forget what the Young Lady said . . .Once dawn breaks, you will leave." Wolfram said, then carried Sieglinde out of the room. Melody and I looked at each other and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Melody put on her coat and we went out into the woods.

"This fog is awful . . ." Melody commented. _It's too quiet . . . I can't sense any creatures at all . . and this unknown heavy atmosphere. . . ._

"Miss Melody, please stay . ." I began to say then went wide-eyed. Melody had tears in her eyes and had two tear trails down her face.

"What the Hell?!" Melody said.

"What did you do?" I asked, concerned.

"Aah, don't rub it!" Melody said, trying to wipe her eyes but the tears kept coming. Then we both saw a figure in the fog . . _A werewolf_

"Let's go after it Sebastian!" Melody said determined.

"Wait," I said, grabbing her wrist. "Something is not right in this forest! I have a bad feeling about it . . I will go after the werewolf, please go back to your room." Melody rubbed her eyes.

"Okay" she said. I picked her up, carrying her bridal style and brought her to the balcony off of her room then went running back into the forest. _Something was not right here . . . I never felt such foreboding before . . _Then I felt tears go down my face . . _wait, why would i be crying? _Getting an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, I pulled my sleeve down to see that my skin looked like bubbling wax . . like the victims . . _Oh Hell Melody! _I ran as fast I could back to the manor, praying that I wasn't too late. . . _How could I be so stupid?! I shouldn't have brought her in there!_ I went quickly into her room to see that her back was to me.

"Miss Melody!" I shouted. She slowly turned her head toward me and my fears were confirmed. She looked just like one of the dead victims . . bloody nose and all . .

"Se . . bas . . tain . ." she said slowly then collapsed onto the ground. I quickly ran to her, picking her up and went to get her help.

_Please, Please be okay._


	27. The Ultimate Magic

Sebastian's POV

I banged loudly on Sieglinde's door. "Master Sullivan! Please help us! Master Sullivan!" I shouted, praying that I woke her up. The door opened, Sieglinde rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Hmm what is it . ." she said, then went wide-eyed seeing mine and Melody's condition. "You! You went into the forest!"

"Im very sorry, I'll accept any punishment later but please save Miss Melody somehow." I said, frantically.

"Wolf!" Sieglinde called, the butler appearing within seconds. "Prepare the the large pot! We're performing the purification ceremony!" Wolf nodded and I followed them, praying that this would work. As she performed this "ceremony", I was doing what I could to heal her myself but my abilities to heal aren't that good, for I never thought it would be important. I was kicking myself mentally for that now. One part of the ceremony was meant to purify from the inside out, which meant we would be swallowing and spitting out medicine. I had to force it down Melody's throat with a funnel, for she wouldn't open her mouth but I hated having to use such force. She scratched at my arm, begging me to stop. _I'm so sorry Melody but I have to do this. _

Once the ceremony completed, Sieglinde went over to us. Melody had passed out, not looking much better. "Once we bandage you two up, that's all I can do for now." Sieglinde said, a slightly worried look on her face. I nodded and we got out then were bandaged up. I carried Melody to bed, now in dry clothes and bandaged more heavily than I was. I gently pet her head. _I'm so sorry . . . I'll allowed you to get hurt . . .Please wake up soon . . ._The other servants soon came in, I guessed that they had been woken up by the noise.

"Miss Melody! Mr. Sebastian, what happened?" Finnie asked, going wide-eyed.

"Oh no, you went into the forest, didn't you?" Mey-Rin said. "Now you're both cursed."

"What's going on in here?"

We all looked to see Ciel, rubbing his eye, having just woken up. He went wide-eyed, seeing Melody's condition. I had never seen my young master go that pale so fast as he went to Melody and tried to wake her. Bard pulled him away before he could.

"Young Master . ." he said.

"What happened?!" Ciel said, angrily.

"Miss Melody and I were investigating in the woods . . we didn't want to wake you, Young Master." I explained. Ciel went expressionless and was about to tell me off, which I deserved but Melody's eyes snapped open and she gasped for air. "Thank goodness, you're awake Miss Melody." I with a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad! Miss Melody!" Finnie said in relief, going to her bedside.

"I think I lost a few years there . . ." Bard said, smiling.

"Yes, indeed." Tanaka said.

"How are you feeling, Miss Melody?" Mey-Rin said, smiling. Ciel held one of Melody's bandaged hands. Melody sat up, backing away from all of them. She clasped her hands over her ears and shut her eyes tight, pulling her legs close to her body and muttering to herself.

"Miss Melody, what's wrong?" I asked, reaching out to her but Melody slapped me away and continued to mutter to herself.

"Melody . ." Ciel said, trying to go to her but Melody simply moved farther away from him. At this point, I decided it would be best to leave Melody by herself for a while then I lead Ciel and the other servants then went into the hallway.

"She wouldn't even let the Young Master near her . ." Mey-Rin said. Everyone looked down, all worried about Melody.

"Will . . will she ever be Angel again? says Wordsworth." Snake asked.

"We'll have to wait until Sieglinde wakes up to ask what exactly we should do . . until then, we should take care of her the best we can." Ciel said. "You should all get some sleep . . .I'll keep an eye on her."

"Are you sure, Young Master?" Finnie asked. Ciel nodded.

"Yes . . . . I won't be able to sleep anyway . . ." he explained then went back into Melody's room.

* * *

She was still in the position he left her in, now shaking and muttering something that Ciel could not understand. Ciel let out a sigh. "May I sit with you, Melody?" he asked. Melody looked up and nodded, seeing who it was. Ciel sat next to her on the bed, Melody then buried her face into his chest and curled up into him. Ciel was a bit surprised, considering that she had just pushed him away a few minutes ago, but none the less he held her and pet her hair.

"It's okay . . It's okay . . ." he said calmly, in an attempt to calm her down. Melody curled up tighter into Ciel, not wanting him to leave.

As Ciel stayed with Melody, the rest of the servants went to work by taking care of the Green manor. Mainly as a distraction from worrying about Melody, for some of them it worked, for others it did not. But there was nothing they could do since Melody won't let anyone but their Young Master near her. Sieglinde, even though she didn't know Melody very well was also worried, for she had begun to see Melody as a friend instead of a guest. Sebastian, wanting Melody back to her normal self as quickly as possible, was now serving Sieglinde in exchange for healing her. Lucky enough for them, Melody did allow Sieglinde to come near her but not Sebastian. She had slapped him away, yelling at him not to touch her. Sebastian was a bit heartbroken by this, seeing now that Melody was very emotionally-unstable. Sieglinde told both Ciel and Sebastian to leave the room, needing to change the bandages. Ciel and Sebastian unwillingly nodded and went into the hallway. After about ten minutes, Sieglinde said that she was finished and that they could come back in. They both went in, Ciel going to Melody's side while Sebastian carried Sieglinde out of the room.

"Thank you for seeing Miss Melody," Sebastian said.

"It's fine" Sieglinde replied. "I want to ask you something . . . Melody . . she had a brand on her back that looks like the devil's symbol . . and scars that were made from claws . . . and those aren't from the werewolves, they're at least two years old and the brand is older than those . . ."

"Yes I was aware of them . . . Miss Melody . . she has had some pretty bad luck the past few years." Sebastian said.

"How so?" Sieglinde asked.

" She was kidnapped by an organization that worshiped the devil . . .She was put up as a demon's sacrifice . ." Sebastian explained solemnly.

"That's stupid! No amateur could summon a demon!" Sieglinde half-shouted. "So Melody was forced to take the symbol into her back . . How cruel . . . I don't want to hear anymore, Do the others know?"

"No, it is a secret between me, Miss Melody, and my Young Master." Sebastian replied.

"I see . .then I keep it too." Sieglinde said.

"Thank you for your consideration."

"Melody's wounds are healing extraordinarily well." Sieglinde reported at dinner that evening. "Emotionally, she's very unstable but she doesn't appear to have any memory loss. She will be fine as long as her mind and body heal . . . . . In any case, she should get proper nutrition and rest. She will be able to move soon if she does."

"We should head back to the manor as soon as she can move around." Bard said. "She'd be more at ease at home too."

"Y-yes . . that would be better." Sieglinde replied, looking down at bit sadly at her lap.

Ciel's POV

"There's still more if you want," I said, offering her a small plate of scones. Melody shook her head, though she had only eaten one. I let out a sigh then put the plate down on the nightstand. That's when I sensed something unfamiliar coming, Melody must have sensed it too for she backed away to the farthest corner of the bed away from the window. I turned to see a large, furry mass in front of the window. _A werewolf?!_ The Werewolf broke through the window and attempted to go after me. He was about to slice through my chest but Melody came in between and held her arms out defensively. The Werewolf sliced open her arms with it's claws, making them bleed heavily. Melody let out a cry of pain then kicked the werewolf in the stomach, sending it flying out the window.

"What's going on?!" Sebastian shouted, opening the door. He was then followed by the rest of the servants and Sieglinde. He went wide-eyed seeing that Melody was hurt.

"A w-werewolf . . it came in here." I said. Sebastian was about to re-bandage Melody's arms when she backed away from him. Noticing this, I had Sebastian give me the roll of bandages and I re-bandaged her arms.

"It attacked here?! That's impossible!" Sieglinde said then was quiet for a moment before speaking up again, much quieter this time. "I'll handle it . . its my duty as the Green Witch . . . To perform the Ultimate Magic . . ." Sieglinde and Wolfram then left the room. I looked at Melody to see she was shaking, I then went over to her and held her.

"Hey it's okay . . .It's gone . ." I muttered in an attempt to calm her down.

"I want to go home . ." Melody muttered, resting her head on my chest. Everyone else then left the room, knowing it would be best to leave her be with me. I heard them talking though. Sebastian suggested that another shock might make her snap out of it. Tanaka disagreed, saying that rest is what Melody needed right now then they left.

* * *

Wolf carried Sieglinde down into the deepest parts of the Green manor, a place where no human but them had ever entered. They entered the circular chamber, the walls surrounded by a dozen werewolves. "I've kept you waiting," Sieglinde said, sitting in the center of the room, which had a circle drawn onto the floor with several symbols. In the very center was her wand, waiting for her on a small pedestal.

"I am the Green Witch, Sieglinde Sullivan." Sieglinde said, taking her wand into her hands. "Werewolves, oh Werewolves. watch over my spell." As she began to chant, the circle around her began to glow. "The magic power that is the source of your being, the ultimate magic that brings it forth is almost complete. So please . . please calm your anger." Sieglinde looked up at the werewolves. "The outsider who shares my appearance . . . she is my friend. If you wish for me to perform the Ultimate Magic, you must never attempt to harm her or the other outsiders again. Am I understood?" She asked. The werewolves nodded, then disappeared behind the iron gates. Sieglinde let out a sigh then Wolfe carried her back upstairs into the main Manor house.

"Why did you ask them to spare the outsiders?" Wolfe asked. Sieglinde looked at him.

"You heard me Wolf . . . She is my friend. . . . I will not allow her to be hurt . . .especially while she is still recovering from coming in contact with the Miasma." Sieglinde explained. Wolf nodded, not liking the situation one bit.

Ciel's POV

One of the women from the village who helped Sieglinde . . Anne I think, came in to take the scones away. Melody went wide-eyed and tense when she did come in and didn't relax again until the woman left. "Melody, what's wrong?" I asked.

"That woman . . . smells like a werewolf . . ." Melody muttered. "The one in the forest . . ." I went wide-eyed at this, knowing Melody's senses were usually better than mine.

"Are you sure?" I asked. Melody nodded.

"Wet fur . . and mustard . . it's gross." she mumbled.

"I would assume so, you hate mustard." I said, smiling a little. "But then again, I don't like it much either."

"The fog . . mustard . . .too thick to be normal . ." Melody mumbled again. Slowly I was starting to make sense of Melody's mumbling.

"The fog in the forest . . . what Sieglinde called Miasma . . .It smelled like mustard?" I asked. Melody nodded.

"Wait . . what if this isn't magic . . but some sort of chemical gas . . A gas that creates physical and psychological effects . . .That would be the perfect weapon . . . . Melody, you brilliant girl!" I said excitedly then held her face and kissed her on the lips . . . That last bit was completely unintentional as I felt my face go bright red with blush. I pulled away and I saw the shocked expression on Melody's face. "I-I'm so sorry . .I-I" I began to say but Melody cut me off by leaning in and kissing me. I was surprised by this but I didn't give a damn. I kissed her back, holding her face. The rest of the world melted away as every feeling but one went completely numb . . . the only feeling I did have was bliss . . absolute bliss.

* * *

_There is true magic in this world. Maybe it's not actual spells and curses, but there is certainly something magical about when two people connect in the way the demonic teens do. . . .it could topple empires . . . or build new ones . . . start wars . . . or end them . . . bring a person back to their senses . . . or become completely enveloped by the feeling we call love._

_Perhaps this . . . this is the Ultimate Magic._


	28. Sieglinde Finds out the Truth

After what seems like a lifetime Ciel pulled away, slightly breathless. He looked at Melody and noticed that she was no longer muttering to herself. She was smiling widely at him, then eventually spoke up. "Damn . . that was . . Amazing." Ciel smiled, knowing that Melody had snapped out of it . . .also for sharing their first kiss too, that was a very good reason to be smiling. Ciel hugged Melody and buried his face into her hair.

"I was so worried . . ." he muttered as Melody hugged him back. "But I'm glad you're okay now . . Do you remember . ."

"Unfortunately . . ." Melody replied softly. "Its an awful feeling . . almost like being trapped in your own head . . I completely lost my self-control . . but that won't ever happen again. . . shall we let the others in, now?" Ciel nodded then got off the bed and opened the door, causing Finnie, Mey-Rin, Bard, and Snake come crashing down onto the floor.

"You shouldn't be eavesdropping on a lady . . it's quite rude." Melody said with a small smirk.

"Miss Melody!" the servants cried, running up to her and hugging her tightly, relieved that she was okay.

"C-can't b-breathe . . t-too t-tight." Melody gasped. Seeing this, the servants backed away but were all still smiling.

"What is going on in here?" Sebastian asked, coming into the room.

"Miss Melody is back to normal, Mr. Sebastian!" Finnie said excitedly. Sebastian went wide-eyed then looked at Melody. Melody gestured for him to come over to her. Sebastian nodded and walked up to her bedside. Melody went over to him and hugged him; Sebastian smiled at this and hugged her back.

"I'm sorry for slapping you away. That was uncalled for and childish." Melody muttered. Sebastian smiled.

"It's quite alright, My Lady. You were not yourself, after all." he said then pulled away. "but may I ask what snapped you out of that state?" Melody blushed a little.

"O-oh well . . . A shock . . I-I suppose. Anyway, what's that in your hand, Sebastian?" Melody asked, pointing to the letter.

"A little something from the Queen . . I believe it will shed some light on this case." Sebastian replied, giving it to Melody. Melody opened the letter and her eyes narrowed a bit.

"What is it?" Ciel asked, noticing her expression then saw the paper. "Is this code?"

"No I don't think so . . . If my hunch is right, this is a chemical formula from the gas in the woods. Am I correct, Sebastian?" Melody asked, looking up at the demon butler. Sebastian nodded. "_C4H8_. . . Four parts carbon, eight parts Hydrogen." Melody said, reading it off. "The rest of it is_ Cl2, S, Na, O, Cl_ . . . Two parts chlorine, one part each of sulfur, sodium, oxygen, and chlorine."

"Where did you get all that from, Miss Melody?" Finnie asked.

"I read . . a lot."Melody explained, then got out of bed. "If you all don't mind, I'd like to walk around a bit."

"Miss Melody, I'd advise you not to." Sebastian said a bit protectively. Melody turned to him.

"At least let me thank Sieglinde in person, okay?" she said with a small smile. Sebastian let out a sigh.

"Alright." he said. Melody nodded then went to Sieglinde.

Melody's POV

I knocked on Sieglinde's door but there was no answer. Curious, I opened the door and saw Sieglinde sitting in her bed, thinking about something.

"Sieglinde?" I said, making my presence known. Sieglinde looked up and went wide-eyed.

"Melody! What are you doing out of bed! Are you crazy?!" she lectured, then realized something. "Wait, you're okay now?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not completely emotionally unstable anymore." I said with a small smile. "I wanted to thank you personally for taking care of me" Sieglinde smiled and hugged me.

"I'm so happy . . ." she muttered. "You made us all really worried." I hugged her back then after a while I pulled away and smiled a little.

"I'm sorry for making you so worried . . ." I said.

"But what caused this? I checked on you only an hour ago and you were still unstable. What happened?" Sieglinde asked. I blushed a little, remembering.

"O-oh . . a shock . . a good kind of shock." I explained. "Anyway . . there was something I needed to see in those woods . . Why we are here . . I never got to tell you." Sieglinde went a bit wide-eyed.

"What . . ." she said.

"Other outsiders tried to enter the woods, they had no idea this village really existed. . . they ended up in the same condition me and Sebastian were . . all but one of them had died. . . the one who survived went insane and was sent far away." I explained. "Ciel and I were sent to discover the reason . . . which we now know . . ." Sieglinde went wide-eyed.

"So . . what are you going to do?" Sieglinde asked.

"That's part . . . I don't know quite yet." I replied

"Can I come with you?"

"Huh?" I asked, turning to her.

"Can I come with you? To the outside world?" Sieglinde asked, her green eyes filling with hope. "I want to see all the things you told me about, meet all the people you've met . . . I want that so much. . . . I want you to show me all these things . .my twin."

"I'd like that," I replied. "But I must ask you something . . this is very important."

"What is it?" Sieglinde asked.

"You're sure about this Melody?" Sieglinde asked as she, Ciel, Sebastian, and me went deep down into the Green Manor.

"Absolutely." I replied then went walked into some sort of lift that took us down into a chamber where there was a circle drawn on the floor with several symbols.

"This is the magic circle," Sebastian said. "The duty of the Green Witch was to create this circle, isn't it?"

"How'd you know that?" Sieglinde asked, surprised.

"A snake told me," Sebastian replied. I looked around the circle, letting out a sigh . . _Oh Sieglinde . . what have you done . . ._

"The Ultimate magic is to create the miasma that the werewolves breathe . . in return, they protect the forest . . . What you encountered in the forest was the remnants of old formulas for the miasma from the previous Green Witches. The one I created will probably kill a person as soon as they come into contact with it." Sieglinde explained. While I wasn't paying attention, a door appeared near one of the walls.

"What the bloody Hell . ." I said, touching the metal door then opened it. We went down a long hallway until we came across the room. When we opened it, it was nothing like I had never seen before. There was a map of the village with several bright dots that were moving slowly. I pieced the puzzle together and turned to Ciel, knowing we were thinking the same thing. All those little dots . . were the villagers and where they were . . .It's a brilliant idea to keep the people in check! Suddenly, I picked up to new voices. Sebastian and Ciel could hear this too for we hid, not wanting to be discovered. When the voices passed, we followed them to another metal door. When we opened it, there were large metal containers, meant to contain gas.

"Look!"

We hid behind some crates and all four of us peeked our heads out to see the hag from the village.

"Our Green Witch has finally completed her job!" the hag said with a vial to a crowd of what appeared to be werewolves but i knew better than that. Every werewolf was a fake, only a person in a werewolf costume . . very good costumes. "A miasma denser than ever is contained inside this little vial!" the woman said, "This is going to change history!" Not being able to take it anymore, I stood up and went to them.

"So this is your master plan?" I said, getting their attention. The "werewolves" then all turned to me.

"The Green Witch," one said.

"It's the Green Witch," another said. "Get her!" The "werewolves" then surrounded me and were saying something about values and a suit when Sebastian tore open the mask of one of the werewolves, revealing a normal man.

"Sieglinde, your _werewolves_ are fakes . . only regular men and women." Ciel said, showing her the torn mask. "It's quite good but still it is only a mask."

"The Misama isn't magic," I said. "It's a deadly, poisonous gas that's created here . . . Everything they told you was a lie . ."

"No . ." Sieglinde said, starting to cry "You're_ lying!_"

"Why are you crying Sieglinde?" the old woman asked. "It's because of your wonderful intellect and the perfect environment that allowed you to concentrate on your research. That you were able to create the ultimate chemical weapon! You changed history! . . .You're my loved one, the one I lost that day . . You should stop crying, my dear daughter." I went wide-eyed, so did Sieglinde.

"Dau . . ghter . . ." Sieglinde said quietly, not believing it. I looked at Sieglinde then at the hag. . . It was the truth . . Sieglinde is the hag's daughter. The hag then begun to explain that her "loved one" had been able to synthesize safely what she called "mustard gas", which was an appropriate name. He lost his life after a lab accident that left her horribly scarred but Sieglinde, their daughter, was able to understand the synthesis of mustard gas. This entire village, the duties of the Green Witch, all of it was a set up so Sieglinde could concentrate on her research.

"Our project was successful Sieglinde!" the hag said happily. Sieglinde let out a scream then buried her face into my chest, crying. I was a bit surprised by this but I pet her head, trying to calm her down.

"She's lying . . you're all lying." she muttered.

"It's the truth, Sieglinde. This woman is your birth mother . . ." I said, holding Sieglinde's face so she was looking directly at me. "She used you to create a poisonous gas . . . She ruined your feet . . . but I will tell you this, no _real_ mother would ever do that . . Children are not their parent's tools . ." I turned back to the old woman and pointed my gun toward one of the gas lines. "Ciel, take Sieglinde out of here. I'd like to assist Sebastian in this one." I said.

"On it," Ciel replied, then picked up Sieglinde and lead her out of the factory. I cracked my knuckles.

"I've been itching to use my powers for some time now . . .Shall we dispose of them, Sebastian?" I asked, turning to him, my eyes turning to their true nature.

"Yes, My Lady." Sebastian said with a smirk, his eyes turning as well. Everyone's eyes went wide.

"What the hell are you two?!" one of the men shouted. I smirked and tilted my head.

"I have a feeling I will enjoy this very much," I commented. "May I have a go at the hag while you take care of these mutts?" Sebastian nodded then I raced after Sieglinde's mother, ready to show her what a furious demoness could do.

* * *

"Take the samples upstairs." Sieglinde's mother said, taking the notes.

"Yes," the man replied.. She nodded then began to mutter to herself.

"You know, it's an odd thing, love." a voice said from the doorway. The two adults turned to see Melody, her eyes glowing dangerously red. "You were going to sacrifice your dear daughter for your poison gas. . . Now, what kind of mother would do that? What kind of _person_ would do that?" Sieglinde's mother took several steps back. "Normally, I don't like killing." Melody said, walking closer. "However I'll make an exception with you . . you disgusting piece of shit."

"You . . .demon . . ." Sieglinde's mother said, now becoming very afraid.

"Yes, you have that bit right. And a furious one too." Melody said, holding the gun to the woman's chest and pulled the trigger. Sieglinde's mother fell, writhing in agony as she slowly died.

"P-please . . make it stop . . " she begged, but Melody had no mercy for the woman. Melody then spotted a candle on the desk.

"Death by fire," Melody said, seeing the candle and twirling it in her fingers, "Slow, painful . . This will do nicely." Melody flicked her wrist, enlarging the flame which engulfing the whole room. Sieglinde's mother screamed as Melody walked out without a single scratch.

Ciel's POV

I waited for Melody to return, needing to move on quickly. Melody eventually appeared out of the woods, unharmed."Melody," I called, hugging her tight. Melody hugged me back then I let go. Melody then went to Sieglinde, who had been quiet.

"Sieglinde . . Listen to me right now, okay? this is very important." she said. Sieglinde looked up and nodded, still in shock from everything that happened. "You have an extraordinary mind, people will try to use you because of that. But that could be your advantage." Sieglinde looked at Melody in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sieglinde asked.

"You're brilliant, use that to help people instead of hurt them . . . . . like how you helped me." Melody said with a small smile. "The Ultimate Medicine . . .People around the world will think its real magic." Sieglinde smiled.

"I . . I want that . . . I want to help." Sieglinde replied. Melody smiled.

"Young Master!" Finnie called. Melody, Sieglinde, and I turned to see Tanaka, Bard, Mey-Rin, Finnie, and Snake running toward us.

"Alright, now that we are all here," Melody said, " We'll start the retreat plan."


	29. The Escape Plan

The entire village was now on high alert, the villagers were now who they really were, released their dogs to pick up the scent of the Green Witch, their priority being to dispose of her before she left the forest. They came to where the path had become two. "Did they split up?" Wolf asked, now in his full military uniform then gave one of the dogs a scrap of cloth with Sieglinde's scent on it. The dog then went down the path of footsteps to the right.

"Our priority is to capture the Green Witch. The main squad lead by Wolfram will go there." one of the female commanders said. "My team will follow the others."

"Ja!"Wolfram said, leading the team on the right. A few hundred yards away, Snake and Bard were running as fast as they could. Snake was carrying Melody on his back, who was dressed liked Sieglinde.

"I can feel their steps! Their coming! says Oscar." Snake called to Bard.

"Snakes' hearing are amazing." Bard commented.

"It's not hearing, we feel vibrations with our skin. says Wordsworth." Snake replied, adjusting his grip on Melody.

"Lady!"

Bard and Snake turned to see the Green witch's butler dressed like a soldier, leading his small army of soldiers. "They're here! Let 'em Dance!" Bard called. Snake stomped his foot, causing a massive amount of snakes fall onto the German soldiers. The soldiers screamed as both poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes rained down on them and their dogs, buying Bard and Snake time to run away. "I had a bad experience with snakes in Arizona but if they're on your side, they're pretty cool!" Bard said, smiling at the chaos the snakes caused.

"It's normal to get bitten if you cut in on a girl's territory, says Emily." Snake replied. Wolfram then began to shoot at them, and Bard began to shoot back.

"I'll buy time! You go on! And don't drop her!" Bard called to Snake.

"Okay! says Oscar." Snake said, then ran ahead. Bard and Wolfram then fought, Wolfram's wild animal style of fighting threw Bard off guard. They fought for several minutes before Wolfram then went after Snake.

"Snake! He's after you!" Bard called. Snake turned just in time to see Wolfram kick him aside, making him drop Melody. Melody groaned, having fallen quite hard on the ground.

"Lady!" Wolfram said, picking her up but went wide-eyed seeing it was Melody.

"You really don't know how to treat a lady, quite a shame." Melody said with a smirk.

"You!" Wolfram said, pinning Melody onto the ground with his legs on hers. "It's all because of You! If you hadn't come, The Lady would be fine!" Wolfram then wrapped his large hand around Melody's throat and tightened it. She tried to kick him off but the lack of air was slowly weakening her.

"ANGEL!" Snake screamed, seeing that Melody was suffocating. Wolfram was about to shoot her when he was kicked away ruffly into a tree, causing him to let go of her and was knocked unconscious. Melody gasped for air, rubbing her neck. "S-Smile?" Snake said, seeing that it was Ciel who had kicked Wolfram away.

"Young Master . . ." Bard said, shocked by Ciel's sudden surge of strength. Ciel scooped Melody up into his arms and frowned, seeing her bruised neck. Melody noticed this and kissed his cheek, causing Ciel to smile a little.

"Like Father, like Son. I thought I'd finally be free." a voice said. They all turned to see a man walking toward them. He appeared to be quite overweight, with short black hair that laid flat on his head and a thick mustache.

"I see you haven't changed, Diederich." Ciel said with a smirk. "Though you're appearance has changed quite a bit." Diedrich scowled.

"Whose fault do you think that is? And don't call me by my first name, I'm not your fag!" he said, then saw that Wolfram was knocked out. "Damn, the little Phantomhive boy has that much strength . . ."

"Ciel, something's coming . . something big . ." Melody said, picking up something. Ciel picked it up too then went wide-eyed.

"Get Down!" he said, getting down and holding Melody close. The others also laid flat on the ground. They heard a loud explosion and something whizzed over their heads, destroying everything in its path. "What the bloody Hell was that?" Ciel asked. Then the ground began to shake . .

"Shit, we're too late." Diederich said.

"Young Master! Miss Melody! Are you okay?" Bard asked, going to them.

"Yeah, we're fine." Melody called out hoarsely. "What the hell was that?" The ground began to shake more and that's when they saw it.

"A . . moving cannon?" Ciel said, going wide-eyed. The moving cannon was large, covered completely in metal and had one visible opening, which is where the cannon ball had come out of.

"Run, you weaklings! Don't be dumbfounded!" Diederich shouted, then all of them began to run away.

"What the hell is that?!" Bard shouted.

"It's the latest model of armored land vehicle! A panzer!" Diedrich said. "Thanks to that thing, now the army can can carry huge cannons on land that before could only be used at sea! Isn't England building them too?!"

"Apparently but they're not complete yet!" Ciel replied. "I didn't know Germany had come this far already!"

"There's no way we can run from that! Son, there's a military railway on the Eastern side of the forest. If the train is still going, we can escape on that!" Diedrich said.

"That's our best bet!" Melody said then tripped, falling flat on the ground. She swore under her breath, remembering the injuries Wolfram inflicted on her, especially her legs.

"MELODY!" Ciel screamed, running back to her.

"Son!" Diedrich shouted, trying to drag him back.

"Fire!" the German crew inside the panzer shouted. There was a loud explosion, sending Bard, Diedrich, and Snake flying backwards.

When the smoke cleared, Ciel was holding Melody close to him and Sebastian over Ciel, shielding both of them."What am I going to do with you, Miss Melody?" Sebastian asked. "You should have left everything to me."

"You know I would never do that, Sebastian." Melody said with a small smirk.

"Come on! there's another one coming!" Diedrich said. Sebastian nodded then Ciel stood up, carrying Melody bridal style. Usually she would argue but she knew she would slow everyone down if she was running.

"Bard! Snake! Go to the railway with Diederich, show Finnie and the others the way with a flare." Ciel ordered. "Diedrich, take the samples of the poisonous gas."

"What?! Why did you give me the worst job?!" Diedrich complained. "Like Father, like . . "

"He trusts you, idiot. that's why." Melody replied, annoyed.

"Young Master, please leave this contraption to me." Sebastian said. "I don't want Miss Melody to be caught up in this one."

"What?! No, we're not leav-" Melody began to say.

"Fine, take care of it quickly Sebastian. That is an order." Ciel said. Sebastian bowed.

"Yes, My Lord." he said then went after the panzer. Ciel nodded and they ran to the railway. Up in the trees were two grim-reapers, waiting to do their job.

"You seem really excited Sascha." the male reaper commented.

"Well, it's going to be interesting Mr. Rudgar!" the female reaper, Sascha said. "That girl that just left, especially. She has an interesting background. It's not everyday we find a half-blood demon!"

"We find one at least once a month. It isn't that exciting." Mr. Rudgar said in a bored tone.

"Ah, but she's not an ordinary half-blood. She's the only grandchild to the King of Hell!" Sascha said. "That makes her much more powerful than an ordinary half-blood. But according to the English branch, she doesn't cause them any trouble."

"I'll admit that's odd . . . which one of his sons sired her?" Mr. Rudgar asked.

"That one," Sascha said, pointing to Sebastian. "He goes by Sebastian Michaelis in the human realm."

"I see . . come on, we have work to do."

Ciel's POV

"It should be here." Diederich said, leading us to a metal door.

"Wait," Melody said, before Diederich opened the door. "There's someone inside . . .six . no seven people. "

"Wait, you can sense that?" Diedrich said, kind of getting into Melody's face then looked at me. "You have some eccentric servants, son."

"Angel is not a servant, says Emily." Snake said.

"Yeah, Miss Melody here is a noble like the Young Master." Bard explained. Diederich went a bit wide-eyed.

"Is that so . ." he said, not believing them.

"Look, I'll give you an explanation later. Right now we have to get on to that train." Melody said. "Can you handle that?" Diedrich scowled at Melody then he and Bard left to take care of the soldiers, Diedrich giving the samples to Snake. After a few minutes, Bard opened the door and the seven soldiers Melody sensed were knocked out.

"Young Master!" We all turned to see Finnie, who was carrying Sieglinde dressed in Melody's clothes. He was shortly followed by Tanaka and Mey-Rin.

"Finnie! Y'all okay?" Bard asked.

"Yeah, and Miss Melody is safe." Finnie said, smiling.

"Uh, Finnie, I'm right here." Melody said awkwardly. "You're carrying Sieglinde."

"What?" Finnie said, looking down at Sieglinde and she nodded in confirmation. "Gah, I'm so sorry Master Sullivan! You just look so much like Miss Melody, I thought you were her . . Im so so sorry . ." Finnie apologized.

"That why we switched places, Finnie." Melody said. "Our first priority was to get Sieglinde out of the forest, which you did." I placed Melody into one of the cars on the train, and Finnie did the same with Sieglinde. Ciel climbed on with them as everyone else prepared the train to leave.

"Melody, what happened?" Sieglinde asked, seeing how beat up Melody looked.

"Your butler, Wolf. He's quite a remarkable fighter . . . and very heavy" Melody replied, rubbing her legs a little. After a few minutes, we were ready to leave and the train began to leave when a door in the station opened to reveal Wolfram.

"Lady!" Wolfram shouted.

"Wolf!" Sieglinde said in surprise. Wolfram raised his gun and aimed it at the two raven-haired girls then fired.

* * *

_**I'm really sorry guys but this story will have to be put on hiatus for a while. Until then, I will continue to write my Harry Potter fic called "Sliver and Gold" so if you're into Harry Potter, why don't you check it out? Until the next update, my lovelies.**_


	30. Back to London Part 1

Ciel's POV

_Bang!_

We had thought he was aiming for Melody and Sieglinde, but the bullet went straight into the head of one of the commanders. "Wolf . . why . ." Sieglinde said then the train began to leave, increasing in speed. As the train left, I saw another sniper on the opposite side of the platform and she aimed at us. Before I could react, A flash of light purple and black consumed the sniper and she vanished. For some odd reason, I sensed that flash was a demon but why would a demon be taking out a sniper aimed at us?

"Lady!" Wolfram said, running after the train. "I'm sorry for lying to you! You can hate us! You don't have to forgive us!" He ran faster as the train sped up and Wolfram reached out to Sieglinde. " But . . Lady . . You . . .You Are . . .not a witch . . You're just a . . .normal girl." he said, his legs about to give out. Sieglinde looked at Melody. Melody sighed then, in one move, grabbed the back of Wolfram's jacket then hauled him onto the back of the train.

"You try to kill us again, and I'll push you right off." Melody warned. "Do you understand me?" Wolfram nodded then hugged Sieglinde tight.

"I-I'm so sorry, Lady." he muttered, tears going down his face. Sieglinde hugged him back, burying her face into his chest. Sebastian soon joined us and was surprised to see Wolfram.

"He's staying . . for now." Melody said, then rested her head on my chest. I smiled and held her close. After a while, I had noticed she had fallen asleep and had a small smile on her face. I smiled wider and held her close as the train went at full speed, farther and farther away from the village.

After an hour or so, we arrived in Diederich's manor. "Welcome back home, Lord Diedrich." His elderly butler greeted then noticed the state of all of us. " Oh dear . . It seems like You caused some mischief." Diedrich gave him annoyed look as we walked in. I will say that Diedrich's castle was rather impressive, for it was very grand.

"Hey Melody, what's this?" Sieglinde asked, pulling out a chain from Melody's pocket with several locket like compartments. Like the Undertakers . . Wait a minute!

"Oh, uh nothing." Melody said taking it back with a seemingly innocent smile.

Melody's POV

Later that evening after everyone had been cleaned up and in their proper clothes, which I was very grateful for since Sieglinde's dress was quite tight around my chest and had begun to be painful, we all sat for dinner. It became quite obvious that Sieglinde was not very . . . knowledgeable of acting like a lady. Now not that there was anything wrong with that in her village, it would be quite improper in the company of the Queen. Oh, well that's a bridge we'll cross when we get there. For now, we have to get back into London without drawing attention. After dinner, Ciel and I silently decided that after all that went on in the last week, a night together would do both of us very well. I don't care that's its improper, I prefer it this way. Before I went to his room, Wolfram and Sieglinde came in after I had prepared for bed.

"What are you two doing in here?" I asked. Wolfram had a slightly guilty look and Sieglinde nudged him forward. He let out a sigh and put Sieglinde on the side of my bed then kneeled in front of me.

"I-I wanted to apologize for my behavior. You kept my Lady safe, all of you outsiders did, but I had not realized that before." Wolfram explained. I was greatly surprised by this but smiled a bit.

"You were only acting the way you were supposed to. You care about Sieglinde very much, I'm quite sure you're the only one who really did in that village." I replied. I turned to see Sieglinde smiling. I smiled back at her. "Now, if you don't mind, I think it's far past your bedtime." Sieglinde pouted a little which I smiled a little, seeing how childish she was acting. "You need your rest. We leave for London tomorrow." Sieglinde grinned then nodded and she and Wolfram left. I let out a sigh then went to Ciel's room where he was waiting for me. I smiled and climbed into bed with him, enjoying the feeling of his arms around me.

"Night, Melody." Ciel sleepily said then pressed his lips to my forehead. I smiled wider.

"Night, Ciel." I replied, snaking my arms around him and I soon fell asleep . . .

* * *

Late that evening, Sebastian came to his master's room to check in on him. He opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see not only his Master but his daughter as well, both peacefully asleep and cuddled up to each other. "My, my you can't go one night without her, Young Master." he muttered to himself. He was happy of course that they were together but the demon soon began to realize that his little daughter wasn't so little anymore. Though he did very much miss when she was little . . .

_*Flashback*_

_He was doing his normal duties as the Trancy butler, though he hated Lord Trancy. The only reason why he puts up with him is for them. His beloved Aurora and their little daughter Melody, who was now two. Though because she was half demon, she was far more developed mentally yet remains the size of a normal two year old. _"_SEBBY!" Melody shouted, running toward to the demon butler, obviously very scared. Behind her was two of Lord Trancy's vicious dogs larger then then the two year old. Sebastian immediately scooped up the scared little girl and glared at the dogs. The dogs whimpered in fear and ran back to where they came from. "Meanies" Melody said, sticking her tongue out. Sebastian smiled at her cuteness._

"_Yes, they are." he agreed, holding her protectively. _

"_Kitties are much better." Melody said. Sebastian chuckled._

"_I completely agree, Miss Melody. Now, why don't we go find your mother?"_

"_Mummy isn't here, Sebby. She's with Miss Angelina." Melody reminded._

"_Ah, yes that's right." Sebastian replied then heard the girl's stomach growl. "Would you like me to make you a snack, Miss Melody?"_

"_Yes please Sebby." Melody told him. Sebastian smiled at Melody's nickname for him and carried her to the kitchen. If only she could stay this little, Sebastian thought to himself . . _

"_Mr. Sebastian?"_

The sound of his name brought the demon butler out of the pleasant memory and he looked to see Mey-Rin had called his name.

"Yes, what is it, Mey-Rin?" he asked, a bit annoyed.

"O-Oh well it looked like you were spacing out. You don't ever do that so I got worried." she explained.

"Go to bed Mey-Rin." Sebastian replied.

"Yes, sir." she said then left. Sebastian let out a sigh then looked back at his sleeping young master and daughter. Sebastian let out another sigh then closed the door and blew out the candle.


	31. Back to London Part 2

Ciel's POV

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I smiled seeing Melody still asleep next to me. I pet her head, thinking she was adorable asleep. Then again she's always cute, but at least now she seems so peaceful right now. I can't wait until we can leave this life behind, it would be a large weight off both of our shoulders. My thoughts were interrupted by a small yawn. I looked down to see Melody had begun to stir, her sleep-mussed hair partially covering her pale face.

"Morning." I muttered, kissing her forehead.

"Morning." she mumbled, moving her bangs out of her face. I smiled at her cuteness then remembered what I have been meaning to ask her.

"Melody can I ask you something?" I asked.

"What is it?" she replied in a sleepy voice, letting out another yawn.

"Why did you have the Undertaker's necklace?" I asked her.

"During the last case, I tried to go after him but all I got was that necklace. I had completely forgotten about it until yesterday." she explained. I nodded in response that wrapped my arms around her. Melody smiled and nuzzled her face into my neck. "You must be in a very good mood, you're usually not a morning person." she mumbled. I chuckled a little.

"True but neither are you, my love." I reminded her. Melody smiled and held me closer. I smiled then we heard a loud crash. Sieglinde had been listening in and had fallen to the floor.

"Oww . ." she mumbled. Melody sat straight up.

"Sieglinde!" she said, blushing a little.

"Good Morning!" Sieglinde said cheerfully, trying to cover up what she had done. I let out a sigh. _At least we're leaving today._

After a day of traveling, we had finally arrived in London. Sieglinde, absolutely thrilled, looked around in wonder from her wheelchair. "You two, speaking in German here will be suspicious. From now on, please speak English." Sebastian told Sieglinde and Wolfram.

"Got it!" Sieglinde said cheerfully, switching to English but with a somewhat obvious German accent.

"She is can speak English fine, but I can't speak it at all." Wolfram said in a lowered voice in broken English.

"Then do what you are able to do. But if this is the case, i can strictly teach you at the manor." Sebastian replied. "The first thing we need to do is get proper clothes for Miss Sullivan. To have an audience with her Majesty, a strict dress code. For the royal court, we will have formal wear tailored." Melody let out a small groan, knowing this meant we had to go see Miss Nina Hopkins. "Which reminds me Miss Melody, your old formal wear was lost last winter, so we'll have to get one for you too." Melody let out another groan.

"Is this really necessary Sebastian?" Melody said in a slight annoyed tone.

"I'm afraid it is." Sebastian said, not liking Nina Hopkins much either. Soon we arrived at Nina's shop in London. Soon, Nina came bounding in and smiled widely seeing us.

"Ah, hello Earl! Miss Melody! Oh, who is this with you?" Nina asked seeing Sieglinde.

"She has become our guest. She has no other clothing, how many can we request?" I replied.

"I see . . certainly you wouldn't have any clothing for the summer. Besides, this is quality but much too plain! It's men's old-fashioned preference to force a woman's chastity!" Nina said. Sebastian made an annoyed face, I assume its because he was the one who made the dress.

"Originally, we came for a woman's formal dress for Miss Sullivan . . and for Miss Melody as well." Sebastian interrupted. "Make we also ask for a man's suit to match Miss Sullivan's?"

"That's a stupid question, isn't it?" Nina said, then grinned. "Ooh The fountain of my imagination is overflowing!" Nina then grabbed Sieglinde and dragged her to the second floor as her two assistants took Wolfram's measurements then Melody's.

"I hate this." Melody muttered as the assistants took her measurements.

"I know but we'll be leaving soon." I reassure her, then Sieglinde came down in her new dress but with a drastic change. Her hair was cut very short, barely going past her chin.

"Young La-" Wolf shouted a little.

"What happened to your hair!" Sebastian said.

"It's a fresh start! How does it look?" Sieglinde asked, smiling. We all went quiet.

"You look adorable Sieglinde." Melody finally said at last. "But I don't think it was a wise decision to cut your hair. Sieglinde pouted.

"Thank you Miss Melody, the social rule . " Sebastian began to say but Melody cut him off.

"The others will have a much harder time telling us apart now." Melody said, gesturing to her own, shoulder length hair.

"But you look so pretty with short hair, besides I don't want the maid to worry about my hair." Sieglinde said.

"You make a fair point." Melody replied. Sebastian let out a sigh.

"It can't be helped, let's go back to the manor." he said, then we left Nina's shop and made our way to the townhouse. This will be a long week.

"Welcome Home everyone." Agni greeted us cheerfully.

"Ciel! Melody! You went to Germany?! Why didn't you invite me!" Soma whined when he saw us walk into the door. "Moreover, I can't think of why you would bring back a new concubine. Isn't Melody enough?" Both Melody and I blushed deep red, hearing this.

"Concubine, eh? Now I see why you brought me . ." Sieglinde muttered.

"No no no it's not like that!" I said quickly, embarrassed

"Everyone must be tired after the long trip. I will prepare afternoon tea immediately." Sebastian said then left the room to do so.

"Anyway, Ciel and Melody's guest is my guest." Soma said, then turned to Agni. "Let's request a banquet, Agni.

"Jo agya." Agni replied with a smile. After a while, Sebastian prepared tea which became a perfect time to teach Sieglinde proper manners.

"Today's tea is Higgins Earl Grey. It has been prepared with . ." Sebastian began to say but frowned, seeing one of the dishes. "Agni, did you prepare this?" he asked, holding up what looked like a cake.

"Yes, it's an orange almond cake. Is something wrong with it?" Agni asked.

"No but I do not allow dishes made with nuts to be served." Sebastian explained.

"Why not? It's delicious!" Soma asked. "Agni had to buy nuts since we couldn't find any in the kitchen." Sebastian gave him a slightly annoyed look.

"That's because Miss Melody has an allergy to nuts, and I would hate to see her get very sick." Sebastian said in a serious tone, then brought the cake into the kitchen to give to the servants. Agni and Soma went wide-eyed, not knowing this.

"Sorry about that." Melody said, slightly embarrassed. After a few minutes, Sebastian returned and Sieglinde's lesson began. However, it was off to not a very good start for two minutes in. Sebastian slapped her hands with the stick.

"Young Lady, your beneficial lesson to attend her Majesty the Queen's tea meeting has already begun," Sebastian said in a slightly annoyed tone. "_This seems yummy _is poor language and can not be used! You can not touch the sugar with your bare hands! It is preposterous to reach out for cake before it has been recommended!"

"Wha-!" Sieglinde said, shocked at Sebastian's harshness. Wolfram became furious and was about to complain to Sebastian when Melody spoke up.

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh, Sebastian?" Melody said, feeling a bit bad for Sieglinde.

"Miss Melody, she won't learn if you spoil her." Sebastian replied.

"I didn't say that. I simply said that you shouldn't be so harsh on Sieglinde." Melody told him with an annoyed look. It was surprising seeing Melody and Sebastian giving each other annoyed looks when normally they agreed.

"Does this happen often?" Sieglinde asked me. I shook my head no. Wolfram got a somewhat pleased look on his face and said something in German which I couldn't understand.

"Mister Wolfram, by all mean complain to me in English. Then I might actually listen to you." Sebastian remarked.

"That's another thing. Neither of them knew a word of English before we came to the village. You can't expect someone to learn a whole new language in a week!" Melody said. Sebastian gave her a very annoyed look.

"Do you believe you can instruct her better than I can, Miss Melody?" he asked. Melody smirked a little.

"I do. Who better to teach her how to be a lady than a lady?"

"She does raise a fair point, Mr. Sebastian." Agni said. Soma nodded in agreement. Sebastian sighed.

"Very well, but I will be overseeing her 'lessons'. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly"


	32. Lost

Ciel's POV

By dinnertime that night, Sieglinde's table manners had improved but not by much to Sebastian. To Melody, however, she was doing wonderfully under her guidance. I found it quite amusing that they were at such odds, but in the end, I agreed with Melody. Not because she was my . . actually, I wasn't sure what word to use to describe our relationship. It was deeper than any relationship I have with anyone else, even with Sebastian. I loved her more than anything, that much was obvious. We had a very strong emotional connection with our similar pasts. We didn't have much of a physical one though, which I'm okay with but it would be nice if we could . . .

"Are you alright Ciel?" Melody asked, breaking me from my train of thought. "You've been quiet for a while."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." I replied, then Sieglinde walked in on her crutches, capturing Melody's attention.

"Is something wrong Sieglinde?" Melody asked the younger girl.

"Your butler is such a hard head!" Sieglinde complained. "He wouldn't let me state my opinion, he won't let me eat sweets. He wants me to curtsey and walk up to your Queen even though I can't walk without support! Grr! I like you as a teacher much better!" Melody went a bit wide-eyed hearing this.

"Well Sebastian's views on being a proper lady is rather strict. As for your feet, I may be able to help. ." Melody explained. "I may be able to undo what they did so you can walk without support." Sieglinde went wide-eyed, hearing this and smiled.

"Really?How?" she asked excitedly. Melody smiled.

"I have a trick or two up my sleeve . . It may hurt a little."

"Do it! Do it!" Sieglinde said. Melody nodded in response and propped up one of Sieglinde's feet, taking off her small shoe. Sieglinde closed her eyes and gripped the sides of the chair, as if she was preparing to feel pain. I couldn't see what Melody did exactly, but after she finished with Sieglinde's other foot, she tapped Sieglinde's shoulder.

"You can open your eyes now." Melody said softly. Sieglinde opened her eyes, which immediately went wide seeing her feet. Sieglinde then slowly stood up with some assistance from Melody. "Do you want to try walking?" she asked. Sieglinde nodded excitedly and took a few slow steps while holding on to Melody's hands, the smile on her face growing with each step. I found myself smiling at the scene.

"H-how did you do this?" Sieglinde asked. "This must be magic! _Real Magic!_"

"We all have our secrets. Let's keep this one between us, okay?" Melody asked. Sieglinde nodded and, after about fifteen minutes, was practically running around the room with no shoes, giggling as she did so.

"Young Lady?" Wolfram called, opening the door and went wide-eyed seeing his little mistress running around.

"Wolf!" Sieglinde said happily, running to her butler and embracing him. Wolf was surprised by this but hugged her back. Melody smiled seeing this, as did I. Now we just have to see how the meeting with the Queen will go . . .

* * *

That evening, the manor was completely silent and peaceful with everyone asleep. What they did not know is that a dark shadow was breaking into the manor. The dark figure slipped silently into the master bedroom and saw Melody and Ciel deeply asleep, limbs tangled together in a loving embrace. But it was the young Earl that the figure wanted, and gently shook him awake then uncorked a small bottle from his coat. What he did not expect was for the Earl's lover to wake as well. Melody's eyes snapped open and she came between Ciel and the figure, whose characteristic reaper eyes and silver long hair revealed himself to be the Undertaker.

"What in the name of Hell do you think you're doing?" Melody said in a hushed but furious tone. Before the young demoness could react, the reaper fled into the night.

"Hm Melody? What's wrong?" Ciel mumbled in a sleepy voice, not being aware of what had just happened.

"Nothing, my love. The wind blew the window open." Melody lied, getting up and closing the window then drawing the blinds closed. Ciel nodded sleepily then pulled Melody back into the bed with him. "Ciel?"

"Hm?"

"I think it's time we leave." with that, Ciel sat up straight and looked down at Melody.

"You mean to Hell? What changed your mind?" he asked. Melody bit her lip.

"I've put it off long enough . . . besides, I believe it will be better for all of us. No more worrying about nobles and duties and all that rubbish. . . " Ciel nodded in agreement.

"I agree . . . after the meeting with the Queen, we will go. Stage some sort of accident. We won't need to bring much, or at least I don't think so." Ciel replied. Melody nodded then held him close to her. Ciel smiled and held her back, both drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

However, all did not go as planned. They did go to Hell as planned, which resembled what you would expect of Hell. A dark red ground, a moonless and starless sky, and the howls of demonic creatures along with the screams of damned human souls. As Ciel, Melody, and Sebastian made their way to their destination, which Sebastian had not stated, they heard the unfortunately familiar sound of a demon hound's howl. Only this time it was a large pack, and it was heading straight for them. It was only after fifteen minutes of running did Ciel realize that Melody wasn't beside him, causing him to go into full out panic. Ciel and Sebastian searched for hours upon hours for the young demoness but she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

_**That my wonderful readers, is the end of my "The One that Got Away" triology. But Melody and Ciel's story is not quite over yet for my collaboration with RPbogal gives you what happens next to my OC Melody Ariana Michaelis which I will try to put a link to on my profile. Thank you all so much and stay tuned for new stories I have in the works.**_


End file.
